Pylos Shipwreck: Timeline and archive of a tragedy that could have been avoided
All data is sourced from publicly available information, as cited.
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On the night of 13th to 14th of June 2023, the overcrowded fishing vessel “Adriana” carrying approximately 750 refugees, capsized 47 nautical miles southwest of Pylos, Greece, in the Greek Search and Rescue (SAR) zone. The boat left Tobruk, Libya on June 9, 2023 heading to Italy. On June 13, public information available suggests that they had lost navigation capacities, were in distress and in clear need of rescue.
The Hellenic Coast Guard, instead of launching immediately a Search and Rescue operation, asked from nearby merchant vessels to provide supplies, so as to enable the boat to continue its deadly trip towards Italy. The events surrounding this incident are riddled with contradictions and marked by extreme delays in taking proper action. More than 15 hours passed from the moment its condition was made public until the shipwreck, allowing ample time for potential intervention.
It’s important to note that the weather conditions were ideal and calm in the last day before the shipwreck.
RSA gathered publicly available sources up to this day (July 27, 2023), to present an overview of the tragic incident with a detailed timeline and other crucial data linked to it.
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Based on public information, this was the route followed by the fishing vessel Adriana.
From the first call until the time of the shipwreck
15 hours, 31 minutes
during all these hours
- no rescue ship was called to provide help
- not even one lifejacket was given to the passengers
10:35 – First public reference about the boat in distress (Adriana fishing vessel) with 750 people on board, by activist Nawal Soufi on Twitter. 8 minutes later Nawal publishes their coordinates.
11:00 – Italian Authorities notify the Hellenic Coast Guard for the boat in Greek SAR. Frontex confirmed to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch that the alert stated there were two dead bodies on the Adriana. Politico had published similar information.
11:47 – Frontex surveillance aircraft detects the fishing vessel and notifies the Greek authorities
13:50 – Almost 3 hours after the notification by the Italian authorities, Hellenic Coast Guard mobilises its first asset, a helicopter from Mytilene in order to locate the boat in distress
14:00 – First communication of the Hellenic Coast Guard with the fishing vessel
15:35 – The Hellenic Coast Guard helicopter locates the boat in distress and the Greek Joint Rescue Coordination Center (JRCC) orders one of its vessels (n.920) to sail towards the boat in distress (approximate distance 150 nautical miles). In the photo from the Helicopter refugees on board can be seen to be waving their hands asking for help
17:53 – AlarmPhone alerts the Greek authorities and Frontex per email.
The email reads: “They are urgently asking for help”. 27 minutes later, Frontex replies that they relayed the message to the Greek Authorities
21:45 – Faithful Warrior’s captain reports to the authorities that the boat in distress was overcrowded and “rocking dangerously”
21:51 – This is the moment that the Captain of Faithful Warrior sees the HCG Vessel 920 approaching. This is the first and only vessel from the Hellenic Coast Guard approaching the fishing vessel
00:18 – M/T Faithful Warrior receives order from the Hellenic Coast Guard to leave and does so at 00:30. As of now, HCG vessel 920 is the sole vessel present at the scene next to the fishing vessel.
01:40 – Hellenic Coast Guard vessel 920 reports that the fishing vessel is not moving. Vessel 920, the report says, starts approaching to assess the situation and starts preparing for a potential rescue
02:06 – According to the HCG, the fishing vessel capsizes.
After cross-checking the coordinates of Lucky Sailor using data from MarineTraffic, taking in mind its size (184m length and 27.44 width), and comparing it with satellite imagery from Sentinel Hub, we were able to confirm that this could have been the moment when the fishing vessel Adriana was located next to it.
Washington Post, New York Times and Forensis have independently arrived at the same conclusion.
According to MarineTraffic, the published coordinates of the shipwreck are 80 and 100 nautical miles away from the Search and Rescue (SAR) Zone of Malta and Italy respectively. Forensis, citing information from the bridge logs of the HCG ΠΠΛΣ 920, reports that at 23:57, the migrant vessel began moving westwards at an approximate speed of 3 knots.
Based on this information, it would have taken the fishing vessel a minimum of 26-33 hours of steady course to exit the Greek SAR Zone. However, considering the testimonies that the engine of the vessel frequently stopped working, it is expected that it would have taken even more.
In contrast, the HCG ΠΠΛΣ 920, with an average speed of over 32-35 knots, could have covered the distance in around 3 hours.
Below you can see the distance of the spot where the shipwreck took place
Frontex statement following tragic shipwreck off Pylos
2023-06-16
“(…)On 13 June before noon (09:47 UTC), a Frontex plane spotted the fishing vessel inside the Greek search and rescue region in international waters. The ship was heavily overcrowded and was navigating at slow speed (6 knots) direction north-east.
Frontex immediately informed the Greek and Italian authorities about the sighting, providing them with information about the condition of the vessel, speed and photos.
The plane kept monitoring the vessel, constantly providing updates to all relevant national authorities until it ran out of fuel and had to return to base.
As a Frontex drone was to patrol the Aegean on the same day, the agency offered to provide additional assistance ahead of the planned and scheduled flight. The Greek authorities asked the agency to send the drone to another search and rescue incident south off Crete with 80 people in danger.
The drone, after attending to the incident south off Crete, flew to the last known position of the fishing vessel. The drone arrived at the scene four hours later at 04:05 (UTC) in the morning, when a large-scale search and rescue operation by Greek authorities was ongoing and there was no sign of the fishing boat. No Frontex plane or boat was present at the time of the tragedy. (…)”
Link
In the first version of Frontex’s statement on the 14/6/2023 it was also mentioning:
“All questions should be directed to the Greek Rescue Coordination Centre.”
Video from the deck of the merchant vessel Lucky Sailor
The video below, probably recorded from the monitors of the HCG 920 vessel shows the fishing vessel rocking dangerously while the Faithful Warrior is positioned next to it.
Source: kathimerini.gr
Hellenic Coastguard claims that the cameras of the Vessel 920 were not recording, although it's equipped with hi-tech Electro Optic Sensors
Sources: ertnews.gr, soudaport.gr, justice4pylos.org, navalanalyses.com, vittoria
"According to Frontex recommendations in March 2021, the Coast Guard vessel was obligated to record the operation" as "it has been 90% financed through Frontex."
source:
wearesolomon.com
The same publication claims that Greek authorities didn't respond to any request by Frontex to deploy aerial assets that could have monitored and recorded the situation:
“Specifically, at 19:35 (local Greek time) Frontex offered to assist with the Eagle I aircraft. Afterwards, the Greek side asked Frontex to assist in a search and rescue incident south of Crete, where 80 people were in danger. The vessel in question was spotted by the Frontex Heron drone at 22:50.
At 00:34, Frontex again offered to provide assistance with the Eagle I and a few minutes later, at 00:52, it also offered the Heron. According to a Frontex source who spoke to our joint investigation, the Greek authorities did not respond to any request to send aerial assets to the overloaded fishing vessel.”
source: wearesolomon.com
Involved Vessels
Adriana, fishing vessel
3d model of Adriana by Forensis, published on wearesolomon.com
Lucky Sailor, Oil/Chemical Tanker
MMSI: 248132000
Flag: Malta [MT]Length Overall: 184 m
Breadth Extreme: 27.44 m
Manager: eastmed.gr
Owner: Mandarin Shipping Ltd
Sources: MarineTraffic, eastmed.gr
FAITHFUL WARRIOR, Crude Oil Tanker
MMSI: 241453000
Flag: Greece [GR]Length Overall: 274.22 m
Breadth Extreme: 48 m
Manager: POLEMBROS SHIPPING LTD
Sources: MarineTraffic, polembros.gr, bbc
Hellenic Coast Guard Patrol Vessel 920
(ΠΠΛΣ 920 Υποκελευστής Α’ ΛΣ ΜΟΥΡΜΟΥΡΗΣ ΓΡΗΓΟΡΙΟΣ)
Total length: 36,30 meters.
Total Width: 7,45 meters.
Maximum Speed: Above 35 knots.
Maximum power radius at economic speed: Over 1000 nm.
Number of Passengers: 32 persons (12 crew members + 20 passengers/survivors).
Means of propulsion: two modern marine engines.
Hydrojet
Fuel: Naval-type diesel.
The vessels are equipped with modern mechanical and nautical equipment, modern means of surveillance and policing of the sea area,
as well as a Tender with a length of 7.5 m and a speed of more than 40 knots.
Camera/Optical Sensors: two Elbit Systems state-of-the-art electro-optical sensors (3rd generation) mounted on the mast of the ship with the possibility of rotation and full perimeter coverage
Rescue equipment:
i) Forty-three (43) individual life jackets (inflatable)
ii) Eight (08) round life jackets
iii) Two (02) inflatable life rafts of thirty nine (39) persons each
iv) Rescue inflatable boat 7.7 meters long
(v) One (01) castaway recovery ladder
(vi) Two (02) castaway nets
Sources: SoudaPort, ertnews, wearesolomon.com, wikipedia, vittoria, ert, Hellenic Parliament
Mayan Queen, Yacht
MMSI:319316000
Flag: Cayman Is [KY]Length Overall: 93.25 m
Breadth Extreme: 16.1 m
Owner: Alberto Bailleres
Sources: MarineTraffic, superyachtfan, bbc
Refugee Support Aegean (RSA) together with the Greek Council for Refugees (GCR) and the advocate Giannis Kastanos, went at the Kalamata Court of First Instance representing victims and relatives of missing persons from the tragic shipwreck of Pylos.
A request was made to lift the fishing boat Adriana out of the sea and retrieve the bodies, a humane and key request for those searching for their loved ones, in order to identify and bury them. Furthermore, the vessel is an important and critical element in the investigation of the circumstances of the shipwreck and assignment of responsibilities.
After submitting the request, Eleni Spathana, lawyer at RSA, stated “We will be next to the survivors and the relatives of the victims at all stages in order to render justice, and also to do what is necessary for the people who have lost their loved ones in such a tragic way, as our culture demands.”
On the 10th of February 2020, Victor Vescovo and Prince Albert II of Monaco made the second manned visitation to the deepest point of the Mediterranean Sea, where the shipwreck of Pylos took place, reaching a newly calculated depth of 5,109 meters (+/- 1 meter).
“The second phase (of five) of Caladan Oceanic’s 2020 deep-diving expeditions has now been completed after sub pilot and explorer, Victor Vescovo and His Serene Highness, Prince Albert II of Monaco ventured down to the bottom of the Calypso Deep, the deepest point in the Mediterranean sea, on February 10.”
https://caladanoceanic.com/expeditions/calypso/pressrelease/
Contradictions of the Hellenic Coast Guard regarding the mooring or not of the vessel
On the 15th of June, the spokesperson of the Hellenic Coast Guard stated that "No ropes were ever thrown" by the HCG vessels, but on the next day, he admitted that "As part of this approach(...) they were tied with a small rope for a few minutes until the discussions were completed."
“From the moment when the supply process was completed until its immobilisation due to mechanical failure, the fishing vessel travelled a distance of about 6 nautical miles. In total, from the time of its detection until its sinking, the fishing vessel travelled a total of about 30 nautical miles.”
Hellenic Coast Guard
- 9:51 pm Faithful Warrior had already completed the process of giving supplies
- 01:40 the fishing vessel was immobilized.
According to this statement of the coastguard, the fishing vessel travelled 6nm in almost 4 hours, or about 1.5knots.
The Italian Coastguard notified the Greek authorities about the fishing vessel and its location.
“Regarding the news about the fishing vessel that sank in the Search and Rescue (SAR) area of Greece, it should be noted that the Italian Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (IMRCC) was in receipt, on the morning of 13 June, of an e-mail reporting the existence of a vessel in difficulty, with around 750 migrants on board. No location was provided in the report, but only the number of a satellite phone that was present on the ship.
The Coast Guard Operations Centre in Rome, having received the communication, contacted the reported number and at the same time initiated procedures to trace the satellite phone.
Having confirmed that the vessel was in the area of responsibility, for search and rescue, in Greek waters, 60 nautical miles from the Greek coast and 260 nautical miles from the Italian coast, the Operations Centre – as expected – immediately contacted the Greek Coast Guard, providing it with all the information that would be useful in the rescue operations.
Since that moment, the National Coordination Centre of the Italian maritime rescue services has continued to update the location of the satellite phone on board, while sharing in the following hours with the competent Greek search and rescue authorities the position of the boat in the area of interest, where in the meantime they (the Greeks) had directed some commercial units.”
“Regarding the news about the fishing vessel that sank in the Search and Rescue (SAR) area of Greece, it should be noted that the Italian Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (IMRCC) was in receipt, on the morning of 13 June, of an e-mail reporting the existence of a vessel in difficulty, with around 750 migrants on board. No location was provided in the report, but only the number of a satellite phone that was present on the ship.
The Coast Guard Operations Centre in Rome, having received the communication, contacted the reported number and at the same time initiated procedures to trace the satellite phone.
Having confirmed that the vessel was in the area of responsibility, for search and rescue, in Greek waters, 60 nautical miles from the Greek coast and 260 nautical miles from the Italian coast, the Operations Centre – as expected – immediately contacted the Greek Coast Guard, providing it with all the information that would be useful in the rescue operations.
Since that moment, the National Coordination Centre of the Italian maritime rescue services has continued to update the location of the satellite phone on board, while sharing in the following hours with the competent Greek search and rescue authorities the position of the boat in the area of interest, where in the meantime they (the Greeks) had directed some commercial units.”
source: www.documentonews.gr
According to publicly available sources, as cited on the timeline
On May 27, 2023, almost two weeks prior to the shipwreck in Pylos, MSF Sea and the rescue ship Geo Barents managed to rescue all 599 migrants who were onboard an overcrowded similar fishing vessel.
It was possible also for all the passengers of the Adriana fishing vessel to have been saved
On May 27, 2023, almost two weeks prior to the shipwreck in Pylos, MSF Sea and the rescue ship Geo Barents managed to rescue all 599 migrants who were onboard an overcrowded similar fishing vessel.
It was possible also for all the passengers of the Adriana fishing vessel to have been saved
❗️ After three hours of operation, the 599 survivors, including women and children, are now safely aboard #GeoBarents and being cared for by the medical team. pic.twitter.com/IrIMhsiZVT
— MSF Sea (@MSF_Sea) May 27, 2023
On April 4, 2023, two months prior to the shipwreck in Pylos, MSF Sea and the rescue ship Geo Barents managed to rescue all 440 migrants who were onboard another fishing vessel, even amidst harsher weather conditions.
🔴 BREAKING
— MSF Sea (@MSF_Sea) April 4, 2023
Yesterday, the #GeoBarents headed north to shelter due to bad weather conditions. While on its way, our ship received a distress alert by the @alarm_phone and changed its course to render assistance.
❗️ About 500 lives were at risk in international waters off #Malta pic.twitter.com/KhNzCmB3FH
🛟 Throwback to yesterday’s rescue of 440 people in international waters off #Malta.
— MSF Sea (@MSF_Sea) April 5, 2023
At the time of the operation, the boat in distress had run out of fuel and was drifting in very rough seas. pic.twitter.com/uYjyInLR7y
