17 Greek Coastguards Charged Over Pylos Migrant Boat Disaster That Killed Hundreds

Seventeen members of the Hellenic Coast Guard have been officially charged by a naval court in Greece over the 2023 Pylos migrant shipwreck, one of the deadliest disasters in the Mediterranean Sea in a decade. Up to 650 people are feared to have drowned after the overcrowded Adriana fishing vessel sank in international waters near Pylos in the early hours of June 14, 2023.

The vessel, which had departed from Libya en route to Italy, was carrying an estimated 750 people—many of them women and children—crammed below deck. Only 104 people are known to have survived, while just 82 bodies were recovered.

The Deputy Prosecutor of the Piraeus Naval Court charged 17 coastguard personnel, including senior officers, following mounting evidence and survivor testimonies that contradicted the official account. Among those charged is the captain of the LS-920, the coastguard ship involved in the incident, who faces charges of “causing a shipwreck” that led to the deaths of at least 82 people. He is also charged with “dangerous interference of maritime transport” and “failure to provide assistance.”

Other charges include “exposing others to danger,” with the former Chief of the Coast Guard and the Supervisor of the National Search and Rescue Coordination Centre in Piraeus among the accused. The rest of the LS-920 crew have been charged with “simple complicity” in the captain’s actions.

Survivors have long accused the Greek Coast Guard of mishandling the situation, claiming that a botched towing attempt caused the vessel to capsize. Testimonies allege the coastguard attached a rope to the fishing boat and abruptly pulled it, prompting panic and imbalance as passengers rushed to the opposite side to counter the movement—causing the boat to flip.

Ahmad, a Syrian survivor who lost his younger brother in the tragedy, said it had taken two years to reach this point. “I'm very happy they are eventually being held accountable for all that they have committed, but until I see them in prison, nothing has been done yet,” he said. Now living in Germany, he added: “To be honest, the Greek legal system is very unreliable.”

Survivors have also alleged that once on land in the port of Kalamata, officials attempted to silence their accounts. Ahmad claimed coastguards instructed survivors to “shut up” when they began speaking about the cause of the disaster. Another survivor, Musaab, recounted how the coastguards discouraged honest testimonies during post-rescue interviews.

The Adriana had been monitored for over 15 hours before it sank, raising further questions about the Greek authorities' response. The charges follow the dismissal last year of a separate case against nine Egyptians who were initially accused of smuggling and blamed for the disaster, sparking accusations of scapegoating by human rights groups.

A joint legal team representing survivors and victims called the prosecution of the 17 coastguards “a substantial and self-evident development in the course of vindication of the victims and the delivery of justice.”

The accused will be questioned in the coming weeks by the Deputy Prosecutor of the Piraeus Naval Court. The court will then decide whether to proceed to trial or drop the charges. Potential sentences have not yet been disclosed.

Greece has maintained that its coastguard upholds international human rights standards and claims to have rescued more than 250,000 people at sea over the past decade.