Europe correspondent Nick Beake and senior Europe producer Kostas Kallergis BBC News Kalamata, Greece
5 hours ago
image copyrightGreek Coast Guard
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The apparently overloaded fishing boat was photographed several times before it sank.
A migrant boat capsized on Wednesday (June 14), leaving hundreds of migrants alive or dead. The BBC has evidence that the Greek coastguard’s account of the incident is suspect.
After analyzing the trajectories of other ships in the relevant sea area, the reporter concluded that the overloaded fishing boat stayed in place for seven hours before capsizing. The coast guard insisted that during that time, the fishing boat was sailing towards Italy and did not need assistance.
Greek authorities have so far not responded to the BBC’s findings.
At least 78 people were killed in the sinking, and the United Nations says as many as 500 are still missing. Some voices questioned that the Greek side should have taken more actions and launched a comprehensive search and rescue.
In response, the United Nations called for an investigation into Greece’s handling of the shipwreck. Greek officials insisted that those on board indicated that no help was needed and that the fishing boat was not in danger until moments before it capsized.
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104 people were rescued from the wreck, and the United Nations says hundreds more are still alive or dead.
The BBC has obtained a computer animation showing data tracked by MarineTraffic, a platform for analyzing maritime data.
Their data, showing hours of activity in a small patch of sea where the migrant boat later capsized, cast doubt on official claims that the fishing boats had no trouble navigating.
Fishing boats are not equipped with tracking equipment and so are not shown on maps, as are Coast Guard and Navy ships, which are not required to share their locations.
Coast Guard official timing of incident in doubt
The EU border agency Frontex said it first spotted the migrant boat at 08:00 GMT on Tuesday (13th) and informed Greek authorities.
Alarm Phone, a hotline that accepts urgent calls for migrants in distress at sea, said it received a call at 12:17 GMT that the fishing boat was in a critical situation.
We used video and photos verified by BBC Verify, as well as court documents and maritime records, to analyze the ship’s movements over the ensuing hours.
A MarineTraffic animation shows a ship named the Lucky Sailor suddenly turning north at 15:00 GMT. The owner of the “Lucky Seaman” provided the BBC with its log book (log book) and confirmed that the coast guard asked the ship to approach the migrant boat to provide food and water.
About half an hour later, at 15:35 GMT, the coast guard helicopter picked up the migrant boat. Greek officials still claim that the fishing boat was sailing steadily at the time.
image copyrightMarineTraffic
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The yellow mark on the map is the sinking location of the immigrant boat. From the movement of ships there, the fishing boat did not move for several hours before the sinking.
But another two and a half hours later, around 18:00 GMT, another ship, the Faithful Warrior, sailed to the same area and also replenished the migrant boat.
The owner of the “Loyal Fighter” reminded the BBC to check with the investigating authorities.
A video reportedly taken from the “Loyal Fighter” was exposed, claiming to record the situation where the ship used ropes to carry supplies to the immigration ship at sea, and no other ships were seen in the video.
BBC fact-checking checked the video and confirmed that the appearance of the boat matches that of the migrant boat seen in the photo – which does not move in the clip – and that the weather conditions match what was reported at the time. The time when the video was shot is unknown.
Between 19:40 GMT and 22:40 GMT, Greek officials had said the migrant boat maintained a “steady course and speed”.
Initial statements from the authorities said they were cautiously keeping a distance to observe the migrant boat, but a close-up photo they later released — and taken during this period — showed that the migrant boat wasn’t going anywhere.
image copyrightGreek Coast Guard
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The Greek coast guard released this photo on Thursday (15th), which was taken under floodlights hours before the fishing boat sank.
A Greek government spokesman later said the coast guard had tried to board the migrant boat for a risk assessment, but someone on board had untied the cables and did not want help.
During these seven hours, all ship activity was focused on one definite point, indicating that the immigrant ship was barely moving at all.
The scale of the animated map shows how many nautical miles the migrant ship has traveled, which is to be expected for a ship crippled in the deepest waters of the Mediterranean, facing high winds and rough seas.
Anxious people on board, whose actions cause the ship to roll, will also contribute to such movement.
During this time, Greek officials insisted that the migrant boat was in no danger and was on its way safely to Italy, so the coast guard made no attempt to rescue it.
By 23:00 GMT, the migrant boat carrying hundreds of people sank, and a ship tracking animation showed that several boats rushed to the scene to rescue them.
One of them was the cruise ship Celebrity Beyond. Someone on board filmed the aftermath of the shipwreck and sent the footage to the BBC.
The luxury yacht “Maya Queen” was then ordered to rescue 104 survivors and send them to shore.
Those who were rescued were sent to the port of Kalamata, where they returned to safety, leaving a litany of uneasy questions about Greece’s overall response.