Greek coastguards face charges over 2023 migrant shipwreck

ISTANBUL

Seventeen members of Greece’s Hellenic Coast Guard have been charged over the 2023 Pylos shipwreck, one of the Mediterranean’s deadliest migrant boat disasters in the past decade.

The Deputy Prosecutor of the Piraeus Naval Court has indicted the coastguards, including the captain of the LS-920 vessel, over the sinking of the overcrowded Adriana fishing boat on June 14, 2023, BBC reported on Tuesday.

At least 82 bodies were recovered following the disaster, although up to 650 people, including many women and children trapped below deck, were feared dead. Only 104 passengers survived.

The Adriana, which departed Libya bound for Italy with an estimated 750 migrants aboard, sank in international waters within Greece’s search and rescue zone near Pylos.

The captain faces charges of "causing a shipwreck," "dangerous interference of maritime transport," and "failure to provide assistance."

Four senior officials, including the then-chief of the Coast Guard and the National Search and Rescue Coordination Centre supervisor, were charged with "exposing others to danger," while the LS-920 crew members face charges of "simple complicity."

Survivors had alleged that the coastguards’ attempt to tow the vessel caused it to capsize, and that authorities later silenced witnesses.

A joint legal team representing the victims called the charges "a substantial and self-evident development in the course of vindication of the victims and the delivery of justice."

The 17 coastguards are expected to be questioned in the coming weeks. The court will later decide whether to move forward with a full trial or dismiss the charges.

Greek authorities have consistently denied wrongdoing, stating the Coast Guard respects human rights and has rescued more than 250,000 people at sea over the past decade.