--- description: Islamic State militants want to build their own navy to attack cruise ships in the Mediterranean, a senior NATO naval officer has warned. title: ISIS Wants a Navy to Attack Cruise Ships, NATO Officer Warns image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Libya](/tag/libya/) ## Libya Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # ISIS Wants Its Own Navy to Attack Cruise Ships, NATO Officer Warns  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 31, 2016 8:10 PM CUT  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 31, 2016 8:10 PM CUT ISIS militants want to [build their own navy to attack cruise ships](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/12128328/Isil-wants-its-own-navy-for-attacks-in-the-Mediterranean.html "undefined") in the Mediterranean, a senior NATO naval officer has warned. ISIS is looking to expand its reign of terror to international waters as it [grows in influence in Libya](http://time.com/3710610/libya-coptic-christians-isis-egypt/ "undefined"), Vice-Admiral Clive Johnstone told the U.K. _Telegraph_. “We know they have had ambitions to go off shore,” Johnstone said. “We know they would like to have a maritime arm, just as [Al-Qaeda](http://time.com/4165462/donald-trump-al-qaeda-video/ "undefined") had a maritime arm.” The commander of NATO’s maritime command also said there is now the “horrible opportunity” a cruise liner or container ship could be hit as ISIS casts an “uncomfortable shadow” along the Libyan coast. \[[_The Telegraph_](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/12128328/Isil-wants-its-own-navy-for-attacks-in-the-Mediterranean.html "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4201622/isis-navy-ships-mediterranean/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4201622/isis-navy-ships-mediterranean/"},"headline":"ISIS Wants Its Own Navy to Attack Cruise Ships, NATO Officer Warns","datePublished":"2016-01-31T20:10:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T09:09:59.422Z","description":"\"We know they would like to have a maritime arm\"","url":"https://time.com/4201622/isis-navy-ships-mediterranean/","keywords":["Libya"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/libya/","name":"Libya"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4201622/isis-navy-ships-mediterranean/","name":"ISIS Wants Its Own Navy to Attack Cruise Ships, NATO Officer Warns"}}]}] ```