The Santa Maria was a 609-foot long passenger liner owned by Companha Colonial of Lisbon. On January 23, 1961, it was hijacked, by a group of 24 Portuguese and Spanish rebels led by Portuguese military officer Henriques Galvão, to bring attention to the Estado Novo in Portugal and related fascist regime in Spain. The incident lasted 13 days; the hijacked ship evaded both the U.S. and British navy for 11 days before docking at Recife, Brazil. The hijacking was also known as Operation Dulcinea by the hijackers. The Santa Maria continued in service until it was scrapped in 1973.
References
- Menefee, Samuel Pyeatt, "Terrorism at Sea: The Historical Development of an International Legal Response" in E. Ellen (ed.), Violence at Sea": An International Workshop in Maritime Terrorism (1987).
