Kyrenia ferry disaster: Turkish paper links Filo Jet to earlier Greek repair

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Turkish media have given a Greek dimension to the inquiry into Sunday’s deadly capsize of the passenger catamaran Filo Jet off Kyrenia, after the newspaper Türkiye claimed on its front page that the vessel had previously been repaired “roughly” by a Greek company.

The claim is not an official finding. It rests on the account of Turkish naval engineer Erdal Kılıç, who says he inspected the ship about a decade ago after it ran aground near Mersin and suffered serious structural damage.

Kılıç says he produced a technical report listing the work needed to restore the vessel and that the recommended repairs were not carried out. He further states that the owners later told him a Greek company had performed the work instead. Türkiye presents this history as relevant to the condition of the 26-year-old high-speed catamaran before it left Kyrenia for Taşucu on 30 August with 267 people on board.

Eight people died and 20 remain missing. The wreck is believed to lie at a depth of about 514–550 metres. Search teams, now reinforced by Turkish navy vessels equipped with remotely operated vehicles, are still trying to locate the missing and recover the voyage data recorder.

Assertion, not conclusion

No competent authority has so far confirmed that a Greek firm carried out the earlier repair, or that any such work contributed to the capsize. The “Greek company” appears in Türkiye solely through Kılıç’s narrative.

Investigators are nevertheless examining the ship’s history: earlier damage, subsequent repairs, technical inspections, and its condition on the day of the voyage. The most recent inspection cited by authorities took place on 2 June 2026 and declared the vessel fit to sail. It had received a new sailing licence in 2024 after earlier repairs.

Turkish front pages focus on condition and crew

Other Turkish papers have also sought to assign responsibility. Hürriyet described a “rotten ship.” Sabah ran the headline “The patched ship sank – The captain left first” and spoke of a “chain of omissions.” Yeni Şafak called the vessel a “floating coffin” and cited a report from four years earlier that allegedly deemed it unfit, as well as previous incidents. Karar, Akşam and Milliyet focused on alleged negligence and the captain’s actions.

The reference to a Greek company carries extra weight because it appeared on Türkiye’s front page on a day when the disaster dominated Turkish coverage.

Captain Mustafa Öz and crew members have told investigators that waves tore open the bow, after which the catamaran capsized while they were trying to return to port. They maintain that weather conditions at departure were acceptable and that the ship held the required certificates.

Witnesses have given differing accounts of how quickly water entered the vessel and how the crew responded. Nine people connected with the operation, including the captain, have been remanded in custody on suspicion of causing death by negligence.

The inquiry into the Filo Jet’s structural history, certificates, and the decisions taken on the day of the sailing continues.

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