Greek coastguard charged over fatal migrant shipwreck

A Greek naval court has charged 17 coastguard workers over the sinking of the Adriana migrant boat in June, 2023. 

The deaths of up to 650 people on board is considered the Mediterranean's deadliest migrant boat disaster. Survivors claim the vessel capsized after a failed attempt by the Greek authorities to tow it to shore.

Criminal charges 

Prosecutors at the Piraeus Naval Court have called for 17 members of the Hellenic Coastguard to face criminal charges over the sinking of the Adriana.

Investigations into the circumstances around the incident, from which only 104 people survived, are ongoing.  

The dilapidated fishing trawler, with a capacity for 400 people, had left Tobruk on the Libyan coast on June 10, 2023, bound for Italy, with migrants from Syria, Pakistan and Egypt among others on board.

The disaster took place off the coast of Pylos on Greece's western Peloponnese peninsula on June 15. It came despite the Adriana having been monitored for several hours by the Greek and Italian coastguard and Europe's border agency Frontex. 

There are claims of multiple distress calls having been made by passengers, who had reportedly paid $4,500 each to travel to Europe.

The Hellenic Coastguard, which has consistently denied wrongdoing, had argued the boat had been making "steady course and speed" and that the captain had declined offers of assistance. It claims the ship finally overturned due to a "commotion" on board. 

Prosecutors claim satellite imagery, sealed court documents and testimony from survivors show the tragedy could have been averted. 

Last year a legal case against nine Egyptians on board at the time was rejected by a Greek court, on the grounds the vessel sank in international waters.

'Vindication of the victims'

Among the 17 individuals to face new charges are the coastguard ship's captain, who is accused of "dangerous interference of maritime transport" and "causing a shipwreck", leading to the deaths of "at least 82 people". This figure represents the number of bodies recovered, but it's believed an additional 500 people drowned, mostly those traveling below deck including many women and children. 

The former coastguard chief in Piraeus is accused of "exposing others to danger". Meanwhile, the entire coastguard ship's crew has been charged with complicity in the incident.

In a statement the court claimed the prosecution "constitutes a substantial and self-evident development in the course of vindication of the victims and the delivery of justice."

The 17 detainees will be questioned by a judge before the court decides whether to send them to full trial.  

Greece says its coastguard respects human rights and has rescued more than 250,000 people at sea in the past decade.