Latest news with #LuckySailor
Miami Herald
27-05-2025
- Miami Herald
21 Greek coast guards, officials, charged in deadly migrant shipwreck
May 27 (UPI) -- A court in Greece charged 17 members of the Hellenic Coast Guard and four officials in connection with a shipwreck in which as many as 650 migrants drowned in the Mediterranean Sea off the southern city of Pylos in June 2023. Piraeus Naval Court deputy prosecutor Monday charged the captain of the coast guard vessel LS-920 with causing a shipwreck resulting in the deaths of 82 people -- the number of bodies recovered -- reckless interference with maritime transport and failure to provide assistance to a vessel in distress at sea. The charges stem from an alleged bungled effort by the coastguards to tow the overloaded Adriana, which was attempting to smuggle 750 paying migrants to Italy from Libya, causing it to capsize, and then conspiring to cover it up. Just 104 survivors were rescued. Another estimated 500 people beneath the deck of the fishing boat, including 100 women and children, remain missing, presumed drowned, according to the United Nations. The 16 crew members were charged with being complicit in the criminal acts allegedly committed by the captain, while the then-chief of the Coast Guard and the supervisor of the National Search and Rescue Coordination Center in Piraeus were among four officials charged with "exposing others to danger." Under Greece's legal system, charges do not necessarily mean a case will go to trial. Legal counsel for the victim said the charges were "a substantial and self-evident development in the course of vindication of the victims and the delivery of justice." Greek authorities have consistently denied the allegations made by survivors, claiming instead that the Coast Guard had instructed nearby ships to resupply the Adriana with fuel, food and water to enable it to sail on to Italy as it was not in need of rescuing. The Coast Guard initially declined to launch a disciplinary probe into the actions of the LS-920's captain and crew. However, analysis by the BBC, New York Times, The Guardian, other media outlets and human rights organizations of data and evidence from eyewitnesses found that the vessel was stationary for hours before it sank. Critical video, call and radio traffic evidence between the Adriana and the Coast Guard, said to be unavailable due to equipment failure, which has since been leaked, appears to show the Coast Guard instructing the Adriana's captain to tell the ships offering assistance that he wanted to continue to Italy. In one of the tapes, a National Search and Rescue Coordination Center officer apparently coaches the captain of the Lucky Sailor, one of the vessels that resupplied the Adriana, about what he had seen and heard -- "ok, ok, everybody screaming that they don't want Greece and they want Italy? -- and instructs him to make sure he records it in the ship's log. A trial of nine Egyptians accused of people smuggling and causing the disaster collapsed in May 2024 after a Greek court threw out the case, ruling it lacked jurisdiction because the Adriana went down 47 miles out at sea, meaning it was in international waters. The coast guard defended its record, telling the BBC in February that it was internationally renowned for its humanitarian efforts, particularly as it had rescued more than 250,000 migrants from the seas around Greece in the past 10 years and detained at least 1,000 people smugglers. Copyright 2025 UPI News Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
21 Greek coast guards, officials, charged in deadly migrant shipwreck
May 27 (UPI) -- A court in Greece charged 17 members of the Hellenic Coast Guard and four officials in connection with a shipwreck in which as many as 650 migrants drowned in the Mediterranean Sea off the southern city of Pylos in June 2023. Piraeus Naval Court deputy prosecutor Monday charged the captain of the coast guard vessel LS-920 with causing a shipwreck resulting in the deaths of 82 people -- the number of bodies recovered -- reckless interference with maritime transport and failure to provide assistance to a vessel in distress at sea. The charges stem from an alleged bungled effort by the coastguards to tow the overloaded Adriana, which was attempting to smuggle 750 paying migrants to Italy from Libya, causing it to capsize, and then conspiring to cover it up. Just 104 survivors were rescued. Another estimated 500 people beneath the deck of the fishing boat, including 100 women and children, remain missing, presumed drowned, according to the United Nations. The 16 crew members were charged with being complicit in the criminal acts allegedly committed by the captain, while the then-chief of the Coast Guard and the supervisor of the National Search and Rescue Coordination Center in Piraeus were among four officials charged with "exposing others to danger." Under Greece's legal system, charges do not necessarily mean a case will go to trial. Legal counsel for the victim said the charges were "a substantial and self-evident development in the course of vindication of the victims and the delivery of justice." Greek authorities have consistently denied the allegations made by survivors, claiming instead that the Coast Guard had instructed nearby ships to resupply the Adriana with fuel, food and water to enable it to sail on to Italy as it was not in need of rescuing. The Coast Guard initially declined to launch a disciplinary probe into the actions of the LS-920's captain and crew. However, analysis by the BBC, New York Times, The Guardian, other media outlets and human rights organizations of data and evidence from eyewitnesses found that the vessel was stationary for hours before it sank. Critical video, call and radio traffic evidence between the Adriana and the Coast Guard, said to be unavailable due to equipment failure, which has since been leaked, appears to show the Coast Guard instructing the Adriana's captain to tell the ships offering assistance that he wanted to continue to Italy. In one of the tapes, a National Search and Rescue Coordination Center officer apparently coaches the captain of the Lucky Sailor, one of the vessels that resupplied the Adriana, about what he had seen and heard -- "ok, ok, everybody screaming that they don't want Greece and they want Italy? -- and instructs him to make sure he records it in the ship's log. A trial of nine Egyptians accused of people smuggling and causing the disaster collapsed in May 2024 after a Greek court threw out the case, ruling it lacked jurisdiction because the Adriana went down 47 miles out at sea, meaning it was in international waters. The coast guard defended its record, telling the BBC in February that it was internationally renowned for its humanitarian efforts, particularly as it had rescued more than 250,000 migrants from the seas around Greece in the past 10 years and detained at least 1,000 people smugglers.
UPI
27-05-2025
- UPI
21 Greek coast guards, officials, charged in deadly migrant shipwreck
May 27 (UPI) -- A court in Greece charged 17 members of the Hellenic Coast Guard and four officials in connection with a shipwreck in which as many as 650 migrants drowned in the Mediterranean Sea off the southern city of Pylos in June 2023. Piraeus Naval Court deputy prosecutor Monday charged the captain of the coast guard vessel LS-920 with causing a shipwreck resulting in the deaths of 82 people -- the number of bodies recovered -- reckless interference with maritime transport and failure to provide assistance to a vessel in distress at sea. The charges stem from an alleged bungled effort by the coastguards to tow the overloaded Adriana, which was attempting to smuggle 750 paying migrants to Italy from Libya, causing it to capsize, and then conspiring to cover it up. Just 104 survivors were rescued. Another estimated 500 people beneath the deck of the fishing boat, including 100 women and children, remain missing, presumed drowned, according to the United Nations. The 16 crew members were charged with being complicit in the criminal acts allegedly committed by the captain, while the then-chief of the Coast Guard and the supervisor of the National Search and Rescue Coordination Center in Piraeus were among four officials charged with "exposing others to danger." Under Greece's legal system, charges do not necessarily mean a case will go to trial. Legal counsel for the victim said the charges were "a substantial and self-evident development in the course of vindication of the victims and the delivery of justice." Greek authorities have consistently denied the allegations made by survivors, claiming instead that the Coast Guard had instructed nearby ships to resupply the Adriana with fuel, food and water to enable it to sail on to Italy as it was not in need of rescuing. The Coast Guard initially declined to launch a disciplinary probe into the actions of the LS-920's captain and crew. However, analysis by the BBC, New York Times, The Guardian, other media outlets and human rights organizations of data and evidence from eyewitnesses found that the vessel was stationary for hours before it sank. Critical video, call and radio traffic evidence between the Adriana and the Coast Guard, said to be unavailable due to equipment failure, which has since been leaked, appears to show the Coast Guard instructing the Adriana's captain to tell the ships offering assistance that he wanted to continue to Italy. In one of the tapes, a National Search and Rescue Coordination Center officer apparently coaches the captain of the Lucky Sailor, one of the vessels that resupplied the Adriana, about what he had seen and heard -- "ok, ok, everybody screaming that they don't want Greece and they want Italy? -- and instructs him to make sure he records it in the ship's log. A trial of nine Egyptians accused of people smuggling and causing the disaster collapsed in May 2024 after a Greek court threw out the case, ruling it lacked jurisdiction because the Adriana went down 47 miles out at sea, meaning it was in international waters. The coast guard defended its record, telling the BBC in February that it was internationally renowned for its humanitarian efforts, particularly as it had rescued more than 250,000 migrants from the seas around Greece in the past 10 years and detained at least 1,000 people smugglers.
Middle East Eye
27-02-2025
- Middle East Eye
Leaked audio casts doubt on Greek coastguard's account of Pylos shipwreck
Leaked audio recordings have revealed that Greek rescue coordinators instructed the captain of the Adriana fishing boat, which capsized off the coast of Greece killing up to 650 people, to tell an approaching ship that those on board did not want to go to Greece. The overcrowded trawler was carrying around 750 people when it sank off the coast of Greece's Peloponnese peninsula in the early hours of 14 June 2023, in one of the deadliest refugee boat wrecks in years. Only 104 people survived. Eighty two bodies were recovered, and over 500 are still missing, including 100 women and children who were in the hold of the boat. Reports by rights groups and watchdogs, based on survivors' testimonies, pointed to the role of the Hellenic Coast Guard in precipitating the wreck, by first delaying its rescue response and then attempting to tow the boat. The coastguard has repeatedly denied these claims, maintaining that the people aboard were not at risk and did not request assistance and insisted they wanted to go to Italy and not Greece. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters But the latest revelations cast doubt on their account of the events preceding the wreck. In a series of recorded phonecalls obtained by Greek news site an unnamed man is heard instructing Adriana's captain to tell an approaching ship that those on board do not want to reach Greece. 'Tell them: We don't want to go to Greece' In the first call recorded at 18:51 on 13 June 2023, an officer receives the location of the Adriana, but in the background another officer, who is seemingly unaware he is being recorded, can be heard saying to the ship's captain: "The ship is approaching you to give you fuel, water and food. And in an hour we'll send a second ship, okay? Tell the captain of the big red ship 'we don't want to go to Greece', okay?' In a second conversation at 20:10, another officer at the centre speaks to the captain of the Lucky Sailor, the 'big red ship' described in the previous call. Charges dropped against Egyptians in Pylos migrant shipwreck case Read More » In the call, the officer insists that the Lucky Sailor records in the logbook the fact that he heard the people aboard the Adriana say they wanted to go to Italy. 'I want you to write about the fact that they don't want to stay in Greece and they want to go to Italy. They don't want anything from Greece and they want to go to Italy,' he said. The call recordings also reveal that between 23:34 and 02:01, there is no recorded communication between the coordination centre, the ships near the Adriana, and the fishing trawler itself - despite the coastguard's official press release stating that they had been informed about the vessel at 11am on 13 June. Even this claim is being questioned as it contradicts a statement from Frontex, the European border agency, which said that one of its aircraft located the vessel at 9:47am and 'immediately informed the Greek and Italian authorities about the sighting, providing them with information about the condition of the vessel, speed and photos'. The Adriana sank at 2:06am. The order for a search and rescue operation was issued 15 minutes later. The Greek coastguard did not comment on the findings, but said it had handed over 'all the material it had in its possession' to the Maritime Court Prosecutor's Office which is investigating the wreck.
Arab News
27-02-2025
- General
- Arab News
Leaked calls cast doubt on Greek account of 2023 migrant boat disaster
LONDON: Leaked audio conversations involving Greek rescue officials have cast new doubt on the country's claims surrounding one of the Mediterranean's worst maritime disasters, when a migrant boat sank with up to 650 people onboard in 2023. After leaving Libya days earlier, the Adriana capsized on June 14, 2023, in international waters that are part of Greece's rescue zone, the BBC reported on Thursday. Authorities recovered 82 bodies but the UN has estimated that about 500 other people, including 100 women and children, died in the disaster. Survivors later told the BBC that Greek coast guards had caused the overcrowded fishing vessel to capsize after attempting to tow it. Greek authorities also forced witnesses to stay silent, and framed nine Egyptian men who were accused of causing the disaster, survivors said. The Greek coast guard has denied these claims and insisted that the Adriana was not in danger, and that those onboard wanted to reach Italy, not Greece. The leaked phone call, however, shows that rescue coordinators coached the migrant boat's captain and the crew of a nearby vessel on the version of events that was later highlighted officially by Greece. Greek website obtained the audio, which involves calls between the Joint Rescue Coordination Center in Athens and the Adriana, as well as the Lucky Sailor. The first call sees an officer from the center telling the Adriana's captain that a 'big red ship' will soon approach the migrant boat to hand over supplies. The officer says: 'The boat proceeding to you in order to give you fuel, water and food. And in one hour we send you a second boat, OK? Tell captain to big red ship 'We don't want to go Greece.' OK?' No reply is heard from the Adriana's captain. A second call involves a different rescue officer speaking to the captain of the Lucky Sailor, the 'big red ship' mentioned in the first call. The officer says: 'OK, captain, sorry, before I couldn't hear you. I couldn't understand what did you say to me. You told me you gave them food, water and they told you that they don't want to stay in Greece and they want to go to Italy, they don't want anything else?' The captain replies: 'Yes because I asked them by megaphone 'Greece or Italia?' and everybody there screaming 'Italia.'' He was then instructed by the Greek rescue official to record the Adriana's request in a logbook. The Greek coast guard did not comment on the leaked recordings, but told the BBC that all relevant materials had been transferred to the Maritime Court Prosecutor's Office, which is investigating the disaster. Previous BBC analysis of the capsizing suggested that the Adriana had not moved for at least seven hours before it sank. The Greek coast guard has maintained that the boat was on course to Italy and did not require assistance. A Greek court last year threw out charges against nine Egyptian men accused of causing the disaster, who survivors say were framed by authorities. Dimitris Choulis, a human rights lawyer who represented some of the accused Egyptians, said: 'We know about the coast guard's tactics of either pushing back or not rescuing people.' There has been 'an attempted cover-up from day one,' he added. 'They (Greek authorities) told the story 'they did not want to be rescued' and so have insulted the memory of so many dead people.' Leading human rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have cast doubt on Greece's official version of events and have called for an international investigation into the disaster. As well as the Greek Naval Court, the Greek Ombudsman is also investigating the allegations of a cover-up.
