A ship from the pro-Palestinian flotilla of private vessels carrying aid supplies for the population of the Gaza Strip has been evacuated.

Water had entered the engine room of the ship named Johnny M and the crew had been brought to safety, according to a statement on Monday by activists on Instagram.

The ship could no longer continue its journey, and some of the crew would be distributed among other boats, while others would be brought ashore, it said.

There would be no significant delays in the process, and the fleet was expected to reach its destination in four days, the statement continued.

The Gaza aid flotilla consisted of 50 private ships attempting to break Israel’s naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.

The vessel in distress, located between Crete, Cyprus and Egypt, sent out a distress call in the morning, Turkey’s state news agency Anadolu reported.

The Turkish Red Crescent was involved in the rescue operation.

Semih Fener, the captain of one of the ships that helped with the evacuation, told Anadolu that they had taken on 12 people and distributed them among other ships.

Four of them were set to return home via Turkey.

According to Anadolu, the vessel Johnny M was carrying passengers from Luxembourg, France, Finland, Mexico, Malaysia and other countries.

The Global Sumud Flotilla set off from Barcelona in late August with hundreds of activists on board.

“Sumud” means steadfastness in Arabic.

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg was on board one of the boats.

Flotilla activists accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza and were using the mission as a form of protest. (dpa/NAN)