Four senior members of the Greek coastguard, including its current commander, will face criminal prosecution for negligent manslaughter in connection with the 2023 migrant shipwreck off Pylos, one of the deadliest maritime disasters in the Mediterranean in recent years.

The fishing boat Adriana sank in June 2023 off the southwestern coast of Greece with an estimated 750 people on board. Only 104 were rescued, while 82 bodies were recovered and hundreds remain missing.

Survivors later claimed that the vessel capsized after coastguards made an unsuccessful attempt to tow it, a claim Greek authorities have consistently denied.

A prosecutor at the naval appeal court in Piraeus has now recommended that Vice Admiral Tryfon Kontizas, the current head of the Hellenic Coastguard, and three other senior officers stand trial.

The charges include manslaughter by negligence in international waters within Greece’s rescue zone, exposure by negligence that resulted in death, and repeated exposure by omission of others to danger.

The decision followed an appeal filed by lawyers representing the survivors and relatives of the victims, who sought to extend the charges to include the four senior officials. The prosecutor accepted their appeal, bringing the total number of officers indicted to 21.

The Adriana, which had departed from Libya for Italy, was monitored by a Greek patrol vessel for nearly 15 hours before it capsized and sank. Survivors later reported that the boat had become unbalanced and overturned when it was allegedly towed away too quickly.

Earlier this year, prosecutors at the maritime court in Piraeus had charged 17 members of the Greek coastguard, including the captain of the patrol vessel involved, the then head of the coastguard, Vice Admiral Giorgos Alexandrakis, and the supervisor of the national search and rescue centre. At the time, Vice Admiral Kontizas and three other senior officers were cleared of any wrongdoing.

Following the appeal, the prosecutor revised that decision. The officers are expected to be summoned by a judge to respond to the charges in the coming weeks.

The Greek government has repeatedly stated that it fully respects human rights and international maritime law, adding that more than 250,000 people have been rescued at sea in the past decade. A spokesperson for the Hellenic Coastguard has so far declined to comment on the ongoing case.

References: Reuters, BBC