Cutro: Italian authorities deemed migrant boat ‘not of interest’ before shipwreck

Italian authorities in the Frontex monitoring room in Warsaw assessed as ‘not of particular interest’ the sighting of the migrant boat which sank near Cutro in southern Italy last February, the Frontex incident report, obtained by Euractiv, shows.

In the early hours of 26 February 2023, a boat carrying around 200 migrants sank off the coast of Calabria in southern Italy while trying to land on the coast of the seaside resort Steccato di Cutro.

The shipwreck resulted in the deaths of at least 94 people on board, mostly from Afghanistan, and has raised questions over how EU border agency Frontex and the Italian coastguard responded.

Six days after the incident, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told the press that “no emergency communication from Frontex reached our authorities. We were not warned that this boat was in danger of sinking”. 

However, the Frontex incident report, obtained by Euractiv, suggests that the Italian authorities inside the Warsaw headquarters indicated to the EU agency at the time of the sighting that the case was not an emergency.

The Fundamental Rights Office, which monitors Frontex’s implementation of its fundamental rights obligations, wrote in the report that cases like this “can escalate into emergency quickly” and said that “close monitoring, or even assistance by the Italian [authorities] of such cases [is] imperative”. 

When a boat is intercepted in international waters, the interceptor communicates to all relevant authorities – usually the closest states – the characteristics of the vessel sighted. Then, a national authority, in coordination with the others, decides how to classify the case and which kind of operation to perform.

On the night of 25 February – hours before the migrant vessel sank – a Frontex plane intercepted the boat, and information about the sighting of the boat arrived at the European Monitoring Room in the EU border agency headquarters.

A member of the Italian financial guard (Guardia di Finanza) and a representative of the Italian coast guard were in the Frontex headquarters in Warsaw in the European Monitoring Room when the boat was intercepted, an official source from Frontex confirmed Euractiv.

According to the report, the two Italian representatives act as liaison to the International Coordination Centre (ICC) in Rome and the Italian Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), respectively, “with whom they are in constant exchange, often over the phone”. 

However, “neither of [the Italian representatives in the room] communicated to the Team Leader of the European Monitoring Room that the case was of particular interest,” the report explains.

Euractiv could not reach the Italian representative who was present in the European Monitoring Room at the time because they remained anonymous for security reasons.

Timeline of events

On the night of 25 February, the Frontex plane intercepted the vessel. According to thermal signs, the boat “might carry a large number of people”, a Frontex official told Euractiv at the time. The plane had to return to the base after a few minutes due to worsening weather conditions. 

At the time of the sighting, the boat was sailing normally at roughly six knots per hour in a sea state of 4 out of 7 (waves between 1.25 and 2.5 metres). The sighting report was sent by Frontex to the Italian authorities 30 minutes after the interception, the report says.

Frontex warned Italy of possible 'large number of people' before shipwreck

The Italian authorities disregarded warnings from the EU border and coast agency Frontex, based on reconnaissance signals, that a ship which eventually sank off its coast might be carrying a large number of people, a source from Frontex told EURACTIV.

However, the case was assessed as a non-emergency situation in the European Monitoring room in the Warsaw Frontex headquarters, mainly due to the “steady course”. 

After the interception, the Italian authorities, responsible for deciding whether to initiate a search and rescue (SAR) operation, performed a police patrol, sending two Guardia di Finanza vessels to the area.

However, these had to return to port due to the rough sea, as the authority declared in a press release after the shipwreck.

During the night, Frontex headquarters managed to intercept a satellite call from the migrant boat to Turkey. Afterwards, the EU border agency passed the number to the Italian authorities, the report states.

In the early hours of 26 February, the boat sank because it hit an invisible shallow point in the water, after which the SAR operations started.

Remaining questions

Frontex Fundamental Rights Office asked Italian authorities for the details of the measures taken after the sighting, without receiving a reply.

“The Frontex Fundamental Rights Office could not analyse and comment on the measure taken by them [Italian authorities] upon receipt of the sighting information,” the report explains.

The office recommended that Frontex should “review the sighting report template with specific sections to ensure its standardised filling by different team leaders and completeness of information for effective SAR”.

In the days after the shipwreck, the news made the front pages in several Italian and international media, with the bodies of the dead washing up on the Cutro coast.

In the  meantime, the Cutro public prosecutor’s office started an investigation, which is still ongoing.

Italy did not classify Frontex’s communication as ‘emergency’ before shipwreck

Italy did not assess as an “emergency” Frontex’s communication about a boat which later sank, killing more than 60 people, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told the press on Saturday (4 March).

[Edited by Nathalie Weatherald]

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