The Danish ship Brigitte Toft, which passed the Suez Canal en route to Israel, reached Haifa tonight. Upon arrival, her Danish captain Hans Hardy Lolk told a press conference the full story of how the Israeli sailor Raphael Eylon was removed from the ship by the Egyptian authorities at Port Suez. He revealed that Mr. Eylon was actually removed from his vessel twice, the first time for only two hours of interrogation.
Capt. Hans Hardy Lolk, whose vessel was greeted at the pier here by hundreds of cheering Israelis, including representatives of the Foreign Ministry and the Zim lines, which chartered the Danish flag vessel, said that when the Egyptians arrested Mr. Eylon the second time he was informed that he would be returned to the ship at Port Said. At the northern end of the canal, however, the captain was told that no Israeli would be allowed to pass through the Suez Canal and anyone who attempted it would be arrested.
He added that the Egyptians had also informed him that they would allow through non-Israeli flag vessels heading for Israel. Capt. Lolk said that the inspection of his vessel was routine, though he was asked about the details of his last trip to Elath, Israel’s port on the Gulf of Akaba. Passage through the canal, he said, was smooth and his ship was accompanied by many news photographers.
Finally, Capt. Lolk revealed that he had taken on 3, 250 tons of rice for Israel at Rangoon, but that some 360 tons were spoiled in fighting a blaze in one of the engines. He rejected the idea of sabotage in connection with the fire in the Burmese port.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
