Damning report of the Frontex Fundamental Rights Office on the responsibility of the Greek authorities in the Pylos shipwreck

Specifically, the report:

• Finds that the “The determination of the state of the vessel, coordination or provision of assistance and potential declaration of a SAR operation were formally a responsibility of Piraeus JRCC. Frontex’ Fundamental Rights Office does not know how Piraeus JRCC monitored, assessed and arrived at the conclusion that a SAR case did not need to be launched immediately after the receipt of the Frontex sighting… The Greek authorities nevertheless determined that Adriana was in need of assistance and instructed… commercial ships in the vicinity to provide assistance and supplies… The two documented attempts were in fact unsuccessful and may have in some instance even increased the danger to the vessel.”
• Notes that “The resources mobilized by the authorities during the day (including merchant vessels and HCG helicopters) were not sufficient for the objective of rescuing the migrants. Judging from the resources actually deployed, as well as based on some migrant testimonies, it appears that the authorities immediate focus prior to the shipwreck was not rescue.”
• Finds the Greek Coast Guard responsible for having “delayed the declaration of SAR operation until the moment of the shipwreck when it was no longer possible to rescue all the people on board, deployed insufficient and inappropriate resources considering the number of persons aboard Adriana…”

Though it does not identify violations stemming from the actions of Frontex officers in the course of handling of the incident, the report raises questions which do not exclude liability as regards the diligent assessment of the case upon initial sighting of the boat by Frontex. It notes that the Agency should “assess similar cases more thoroughly against the need to issue a Mayday alert, especially when the competent national authorities do not provide information about their assessment of the situation and follow-up steps, such as declaring the boat as being in distress or initiating a search and rescue operation.”

Importantly, the report highlights that the responsible Greek authorities failed to provide the Fundamental Rights Office with relevant information and to reply to the questions set in its investigation, and that the Office expects to be informed of the outcome of the two ongoing judicial proceedings and of the Greek Ombudsman investigation.