Lifeboats

The family of a sailor who died when the Rovana (formerly Raptor) cargo ship sank 4.5 nautical miles southwest of Lesvos in the eastern Aegean in November 2023 have filed a lawsuit in Greece, accusing the ship's foreign owners and their insurance company of gross negligence.

They started from an area near the town of Wimereux and about 100 were rescued by three helicopters and several lifeboats

A prosecutor and an investigative magistrate in the southern Greek city of Nafplio released on bail the 44-year-old French skipper of an inflatable boat that slammed into a fishing boat, killing two people and severely injuring one.

A prosecutor and an investigative magistrate in the southern Greek city of Nafplio released on bail the 44-year-old French skipper of an inflatable boat that slammed into a fishing boat, killing two people and severely injuring one.

The 44-year-old French skipper of an inflatable boat that slammed into a fishing boat, killing two people and severely injuring one, will face an examining magistrate Monday in the southern Greek city of Nafplio.

The accident occurred Friday night near the resort of Porto Heli, about 200 kilometers south of Athens.

Crew members abandoned their posts, fire emergency plans were mistakenly activated for Deck 3 instead of Deck 4 where the blaze had broken out, and a lifeboat was released into the sea before the evacuation order had been issued or any safety measures taken.

The European Union wants China to help prevent migrants and refugees using Chinese-made inflatable boats to get into the bloc by stopping the boats reaching them, the European Commissioner for Migration said on Thursday.

Eleven migrants drowned on March 24 after a boat carrying 22 sank off the Kuşadası-Davutlar area of the Aegean province of Aydın, Doğan News Agency has reported. 

Eight migrants were rescued while efforts to rescue the other missing three were continuing.

A number of ambulances were also dispatched to the coast.

Four people believed to be migrants have been found dead on a crippled boat in the northern Aegean Sea and another 15 survivors have been rescued, Greek authorities said Wednesday.

The boat was located following a 17-hour search and rescue operation by sea and air, after somebody believed to be a passenger on the inflatable dinghy made a distress call to Greek officials late Tuesday.

By YIANNIS PAPADOPOULOS, Photos: GIORGOS MOUTAFIS