Chronicle of the rescue operation according to the Ministry of Shipping

Details of the Coast Guard operation were made public in the version of the Greek Ministry of Shipping. An Italian coast guard ship has mysteriously disappeared from the chronicle.

“As regards the rescue operation of foreigners in international waters, in the sea area 47 miles southwest of Pylos, the events, up to the sinking of the ship carrying foreigners, were recorded in the operations center of the Ministry of Shipping and are as follows:

1. On the morning of June 13, around 11:00, from the Operations Center in Rome, the LS Joint Search and Rescue Coordination Center – EL.AKT. was informed that a fishing boat with a large number of migrants was in international waters southwest of the Peloponnese (according to information received by the Italian authorities from a call from an NGO activist).
2. The Coast Guard conducted a verification procedure. A Hellenic Coast Guard helicopter took off around 13:50 from Mitylene to the fishing boat.
3. At 15:35, a Coast Guard helicopter spotted a fishing boat that was on a level course and at a steady speed, with a large number of people on the outer decks.
4. Immediately after being spotted by helicopter, vessels operating in the area were informed, requested to change course and report to ESSED on the movement and general condition of the fishing vessel.
5. At the same time, a 40-meter Greek Coast Guard vessel was ordered to proceed from Chania (Crete) in the direction of the Ionian Sea and the area where the fishing vessel was located.
6. The first contact with the fishing vessel was made at about 1400 hours after some difficulties.
7. The fishing vessel did not request any assistance from the Coast Guard or Greece.
8. The helicopter took off for the second time at about 18:00, when it was again established that the ship was on a level course and at a constant speed.
9. Communication between ESSED and the vessel was established by satellite phone at 18:30. An English-speaking satellite phone user on board the ship responded that the ship was not in danger, that it was unwilling to receive assistance other than food and water, and that it wished to continue on to Italy.
10. ECSC dispatched a Maltese-flagged coaster that approached the fishing vessel around 18:00 and, after the fishing vessel had stopped, provided food and water at the request of the merchant vessel.
11. The merchant ship repeatedly asked the fishing vessel if it needed further assistance, if it was in danger, or if it wanted anything else from Greece. They replied: “We want nothing more than to continue on our way to Italy.”
12. A second vessel was then found, this time a Greek one, which was sent to the fishing vessel around 21:00 to provide additional food and any other assistance. They received only water, and the rest of the supplies were thrown overboard.
13. Between 15:30 and 21:00, the operational headquarters of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs repeatedly contacted the fishing vessel via satellite phone. In all conversations they invariably repeated that they wanted to sail to Italy and did not want any help from Greece.
14. At 10:40 pm, a Cretan Coast Guard vessel sailed alongside the fishing boat. It remained at a distance and quietly watched the ship, not noticing any problems with its navigation, since it was going on a level course and at a constant speed.
15. This went on until 01:40 on June 14. At the specified time, the passenger of the fishing vessel reported to the operational center of the headquarters that a malfunction had occurred in the vessel’s engine, and it stopped moving. This event was also confirmed by a nearby Coast Guard flotilla.
16. Immediately, a Greek Coast Guard boat attempted to approach the fishing vessel to determine the problem.
17. At 02:04, the captain of the Hellenic Coast Guard flotilla reported to the operations center that the fishing vessel took starboard, then a steep port tack, and then another starboard tack so large that it caused the fishing vessel to capsize (marine terminology “flopping” ).
18. Ten to fifteen minutes later the ship sank completely. Several people on the outer decks fell overboard.
    A large-scale search and rescue operation was launched.

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