Greek coast guard officials face criminal investigation 2 years after deadly shipwreck

A naval court in Greece has referred 17 members of the country’s coast guard to criminal investigation for causing the deaths of 82 people whose bodies were recovered, two years after one of the deadliest shipwrecks to ever take place in the Mediterranean.

The step represents a move toward accountability for the shipwreck that took place in June 2023, which is believed to have killed over 500 people, most of whose bodies were never recovered.

The boat had left the shores of Libya with 750 undocumented migrants on board, of whom 200 are known to be Egyptian nationals. Only 103 passengers survived.

Following initial investigations concluded earlier this month, the Piraeus Naval Court Prosecution has referred the captain of the rescue vessel PPLS-920 —which conducted rescue operations overnight and in the early hours of June 14, 2023 — for criminal investigation.

The captain of the rescue vessel faces charges of causing a shipwreck, failing to provide assistance, and dangerously disrupting maritime traffic, according to reporting by independent Greek outlet OmniaTV. The captain will also be investigated for the related charge of causing the deaths of the 82 people whose bodies were recovered after the wreck.

Crew members of the vessel will be investigated on charges of “simple complicity” in the same allegations brought against their captain.

The Hellenic Coast Guard (HGC), which had been aware of the migrant boat more than 12 hours before it capsized, as revealed in a joint investigation by OmniaTV and Mada Masr at the time, has denied responsibility for the fatal wreck. However, several of the 103 survivors immediately pointed to the coastguard’s role in causing the trawler to capsize.

Evidence emerging over recent months has further disrupted the coast guards’ version of events that night. A joint investigation by OmniaTV and Greek outlet Efsyn published earlier this year revealed photographic evidence showing a severed blue rope hanging from the bow of the fishing trawler hours before it sank — supporting survivor testimonies that the coast guard had attempted to tow the vessel away from Greek waters, leading to its capsizing.

According to the investigation, the photo was found among files retrieved from the phones of the HGC crew members, which had been confiscated for prosecutorial review.

The former head of the HCG and the supervisor of the National Search and Rescue Coordination Center in Piraeus are among four additional coast guard officials accused by the naval court of “exposing others to danger” rather than fulfilling their legal duty to rescue them.

Greek authorities have repeatedly claimed that the distressed people aboard the trawler did not immediately request assistance. However, international maritime law obliges rescue operations if lives are in direct danger, regardless of whether an explicit call for help is made. 

Another investigation by the Greek outlets revealed that key communications from the night of the wreck, including exchanges between coast guard officials and the coast guard and commercial vessels that had delivered food and water to the distressed trawler, were not submitted to the naval court. In a joint statement released over the weekend, lawyers and organizations representing the shipwreck survivors welcomed the completion of the naval court’s preliminary investigations in the coast guard members’ implication and their referral to the main investigation.

The criminal referral also reinforces the acquittal last year of nine Egyptian nationals initially accused of causing the shipwreck. They were held in pretrial detention for nearly a year pending investigation, before the Kalamata Criminal Appeals Court dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction, ruling that the boat sank outside Greek territorial waters.

Following the preliminary investigations, the 17 accused coast guard members are set to be questioned over the coming weeks by the deputy prosecutor of the Piraeus Naval Court.