In the port of Kalamatain the area with the rescued migrants from the shipwreck off Pylos, was found the Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Evangelos Tournas. As he said, Mr. In turn, the investigations continue and will continue, so as to exhaust every possibility of saving whosoever is alive and whosoever may be saved. “That’s why the Coast Guard is here, the Armed Forces are helping so that whoever is alive and in any case is saved, everything that is saved is our effort,” he noted. We are here at the behest of our Prime Minister Ioannis Sharma, so that we can complete the coordination procedures of the relevant ministries and agencies so that the whole process can be completed and these people stop suffering and we can take them where they need to go according to our rules and laws. The effort is to complete today and transfer today,” he noted.

Asked about the circumstances of the wreck, Mr. Tournas said that those already announced apply. “It was a difficult incident happened within the limits of the FIR in international maritime airspace, it was in international waters there from the beginning our coast guard approached to provide assistance. Since the authority notified by the Italian authorities, it was next to the fishing boat that was overloaded, early Tuesday afternoon. In all calls for help, the fishing boat, those on board did not want to be helpedtheir reply was that their destination was Italy nevertheless the coastguard vessels remained close, until the evening when she was immobilized by a breakdown for about half an hour and three quarters and at some point due to an apparently high center of gravity and displacement she capsized and the tragic event”underlined Mr. Tournas.

He also emphasized: “There are international rules where one can intervene and where one does not have the right to intervene. The Coast Guard is not authorized to intervene in such a ship which does not accept intervention in international waters. Just think of the danger a Coast Guard intervention could pose to an overloaded ship that could be capsized by the Coast Guard intervention. Well, the Coast Guard could not intervene, it does not have the legitimacy, it could be accused if it had intervened. I repeat that we are here and the Coast Guard and the Armed Forces to save what can be saved. It becomes a business”.

Mr. Tournas pointed out that “we must all condemn this trafficking of innocent people who are exploited for a few dollars by some who try with human lives to gain personal gain”. “It is a criminal activity from there on, any political exploitation in my opinion is unnecessary and unacceptable on the dead. We are here to coordinate and save what is savable,” concluded.