A South Portland filmmaker is alive after his Gaza-bound ship was raided by Israeli commandos this morning, according to his father.

Scott Hamann, 29, is pictured in a video being processed at an Israeli detention center, said his father, Moe Hamann, of Nashua, N.H. The elder Hamann said the the video was sent to the family by the David Rubinson, the man who hired Scott Hamann to document the mission to Gaza.

“It was really good news. My wife just flipped out,” the father said.

The information comes after a period of trying uncertainty.

At first the family had not known whether Scott Hamann’s ship had been part of the flotilla. The ship, Challenger 1, had experienced mechanical problems Friday and had to stop for repairs at the port of Famagusta, on the Turkish side of Cyprus. The family later learned that the ship had, in fact, caught up to the flotilla.

An e-mail the family received this morning had provided somem hope.

A press release from the Free Gaza site was e-mailed to Moe Hamann under Scott’s e-mail address this morning, the father said. There was no note accompanying the news release and the family thought flotilla passengers were unable to use their electronic devices.

The elder Hamann had said he was unsure what the e-mail meant but hoped his son was able to send it or have someone send it on his behalf.

Before the ships set sail from waters off Cyprus on Sunday, Israel had urged the flotilla not to try to breach its blockade and offered to transfer some of the cargo to Gaza from an Israeli port, following a security inspection.

The flotilla of three cargo ships and three passenger ships carrying 10,000 tons of aid and 700 activists was transporting items that Israel bars from reaching Gaza, like cement and other building materials.

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