Four more coast guard officers charged over deadly Pylos shipwreck

Greek prosecutors have expanded charges to include four additional senior coast guard officers over the 2023 Pylos shipwreck, one of the deadliest migrant tragedies in the Mediterranean, according to legal sources cited by Reuters.

The new charges come after an appeal filed by lawyers representing survivors and the families of victims, the sources said.

The incident occurred on June 14, 2023, when the overcrowded fishing trawler Adriana capsized and sank in international waters off the southwestern town of Pylos. The vessel, which had departed from Libya and was bound for Italy, was carrying an estimated 750 people—mostly migrants and refugees. Only 104 are known to have survived.

A Greek coast guard vessel had reportedly monitored the Adriana for more than 15 hours before the disaster struck. Authorities have consistently denied wrongdoing or negligence in their handling of the incident.

In May, a naval court charged 17 coast guard officers with offenses ranging from obstructing transportation to causing a shipwreck and exposing individuals to mortal danger—serious felony charges under Greek law.

According to Kathimerini, lawyers for the victims welcomed that decision but later appealed, requesting that criminal prosecution also be initiated against four more senior officers, including the current chief of the Hellenic Coast Guard. They argued that those officials were also involved in managing the response to the tragedy, Reuters reported.

The prosecutor accepted the appeal, bringing the total number of indicted officers to 21. The accused are expected to be summoned by an investigating judge to respond to the charges, according to the same sources.

A coast guard spokesperson declined to comment on the case.