RSA raises questions about Pylos shipwreck

The Refugee Support Aegean (RSA),  a non-profit organization, has raised questions about the Pylos shipwreck which claimed hundreds of lives recently.

The RSA demanded to know why relevant recording material was not taken and/or made public from the vessel that was operating at the site of the Pylos shipwreck, even though it was present for several hours before the shipwreck.

The RSA said: “The Hellenic Coast Guard vessel 920 was the first and only vessel of the Hellenic Coast Guard to approach the fishing vessel Adriana until the tragic shipwreck in Pylos on 14 June.

“Vessel 920 approached Adriana at 10:40 p.m. and remained in the area, according to the Coast Guard statement – for about 3.5 hours before it sank.The events surrounding the shipwreck are riddled with contradictions and marked by extreme delays in taking proper action. A significant part of these questions could be answered objectively if the vessel 920 recorded the operation with the cameras it has, as it should.

“Hellenic Coastguard claims that the cameras of the Vessel 920 were not recording, although it’s equipped with hi-tech electro-optic sensors.Specifically, according to the representative of the Hellenic Coast Guard, N. Alexiou, “at the time of the sinking, it was not possible to record it”.Vessel 920 is 1 of 4 identical vessels purchased by the Greek state in 2021, 90% funfinanced through @Frontex. In an ERT broadcast on 10/7/2022 dedicated to the demonstration of the vessel, it appears that it has state-of-the-art day, night and thermal cameras, of 10 km ray.

“The performance of the system is particularly high and stable even in very adverse weather conditions. A published photo of the ship’s bridge also confirms the equipment’s existence.This state-of-the-art equipment allowed the boat’s crew to see even into the interior of the fishing vessel Adriana, which was in distress.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,” based on the collaborative research by @we_are_solomon @counterinv @guardian @STRG_F1

“The same publication claims that the Greek authorities did not respond to any request by Frontex to send aerial assets that could monitor and record the situation.In addition, one of the three former and current Coast Guard officers who spoke as part of the same investigation, said that these cameras do not require constant manual operation and they exist exactly to record such incidents without the need for constant operation.

“Finally, in the months after the shipwreck, dozens of videos of rescues of ships in distress have been made public by the Hellenic Coast Guard, as indicatively listed by the Initiative of lawyers and jurists for the Pylos shipwreck.There arises a reasonable question – why, especially in the case of the shipwreck in Pylos, was the relevant recording material not taken and/or made public from the vessel that was operating at the site, even though it was present for several hours before the shipwreck?”