- By Nick Beake, Europe Correspondent and Kostas Kallergis, Senior Europe Producer
- BBC News in Kalamata
2 hours ago
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Watch: Tracking data sheds new light on boat disaster in Greece
The BBC has received evidence casting doubt on the Greek Coast Guard’s account of the migrant shipwreck, which is believed to have killed hundreds.
Analysis of the movement of other vessels in the area suggests the overcrowded fishing vessel did not move for at least seven hours before capsizing.
The Coast Guard still maintains that the boat was on course for Italy during those hours and did not require rescue.
The Greek authorities have not yet responded to the BBC’s findings.
However, the United Nations has called for an inquiry into Greece’s handling of the disaster, claiming more action should have been taken sooner to launch a full-scale rescue attempt.
Greek officials claim people on board said they didn’t want help and were not in danger until their boat sank.
The BBC has received a computer animation of tracking data provided by MarineTraffic, a maritime analytics platform.
Their data shows hours of activity centered on a small, specific area where the migrant boat later sank, casting doubt on the official claim that it had no problems navigating.
The fishing boat did not have a tracker and is therefore not shown on the map. Nor are they Coast Guard and military vessels, which do not need to share their location.
Image source: Hellenic Coast Guard
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The overcrowded ship was photographed several times before the tragedy struck
Coast Guard official account timeline disputed
Frontex, the EU’s border force, said it first sighted the refugee boat around 0800 GMT on Tuesday and informed Greek authorities.
Alarm Phone, an emergency hotline for migrants in distress at sea, said it received a call at 12:17 GMT stating the boat was in distress.
We used video and photos, certified by BBC Verify, as well as court records and shipping logs, to analyze ship movements in the area over the ensuing hours.
The Marine Traffic animation shows a ship named Lucky Sailor abruptly turning north at 15:00 GMT.
The owner of the Lucky Sailor gave us her log book and confirmed that the Coast Guard had asked her to approach the refugee boat and give him food and water.
About half an hour later at 15:35 GMT, the Coast Guard helicopter found the refugee boat. Authorities continued to claim that the rate was stable at the time.
Image source: Marinetraffic
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The movement of ships in the area where the ship eventually sank (in yellow) suggests that it was stationary hours before the shipwreck
However, two and a half hours later, around 18:00 GMT, another ship, the Faithful Warrior, traveled to the same area and also resupplied the boat.
Faithful Warrior’s owners referred us to law enforcement.
Video has emerged, reportedly taken from the Faithful Warrior, allegedly showing supplies being delivered to the refugee ship via a rope in the water. There are no other ships in sight.
BBC Verify checked it and found that the ship – which is not moving in the footage – matched the shape of the migrant ship shown in the photos and the weather conditions matched those reported at the time. It is not known exactly when this video was shot.
Between 7:40 p.m. and 10:40 p.m., Greek officials originally claimed the boat maintained a “steady course and speed.”
Their initial statement said they were watching from a discreet distance, but a close-up image from the time, later self-released, suggests the refugee boat is going nowhere.
Image source: Hellenic Coast Guard
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This image of the fishing boat in the hours before it sank was released by the Coast Guard on Thursday
A government spokesman later said the Coast Guard tried to board the boat to assess the danger, but those on board removed a rope attached to it and did not want help.
All shipping activity for the past seven hours was concentrated in one spot, indicating that the migrating boat had barely moved.
The scale of the animated map suggests the ship has traveled less than a few nautical miles, which is to be expected for a shipwrecked ship battered by wind and waves in the deepest part of the Mediterranean.
Also, the actions of those in need that rocked the ship would have contributed to any movement.
During this time, Greek officials insisted that the ship was not in trouble and was instead safely en route to Italy and the Coast Guard therefore made no rescue attempt.
At 11:00 p.m., the boat sank with hundreds on board and the tracking animation shows a frantic deployment of ships rushing to help.
This included the program Celebrity Beyond, from which footage of the aftermath of the disaster was filmed and later broadcast to the BBC.
A luxury yacht, the Mayan Queen, is then hired to help bring some of the 104 survivors ashore.
Those rescued reached the safe haven of Kalamata but left a number of troubling questions about the overall Greek response.