A Greek prosecutor has brought criminal charges against an island ferry captain and three of his crew over the death of a passenger who was pushed into the sea as he tried to reboard the departing vessel in the country’s main port of Piraeus.
One crewmember was charged with homicide with possible intent, and the other two with complicity, while the captain was charged with severe breaches of shipping regulations, state-run ERT television reported.
On Wednesday, the Greek minister for merchant marine, Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, expressed “shock, horror and sorrow” over the death of the passenger, who he identified as Andonis Kargiotis, 36.
Video of the incident showed Kargiotis running on to the Blue Horizon ferry’s loading ramp, which was still down and in place on the quay, as the ship had cast off its moorings and was about to leave. He tried to push past two crew members on the ramp, who stopped him and manhandled him on to the quay.
When the man once again stepped on to the ramp, one crew member stopped him and pushed him off as the ferry was departing. He vanished into the growing gap between the vessel and the quay as the water was violently churned by the ship’s powerful screws.
The crew appeared to do nothing to help him and the ferry continued sailing towards the island of Crete before being ordered back to Piraeus.
The coastguard said the man was recovered unconscious from the harbour waters and later pronounced dead. An autopsy determined drowning as the cause of death.
In a social media post on Wednesday, the country’s prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, deplored what he called the “combination of irresponsible behaviour and cynicism, contempt and indifference” that led to the man’s death. “Yesterday’s shameful incident is not indicative of the kind of country we want,” he added.
Varvitsiotis condemned the crewmembers for their “illegal acts” and their failure to follow the “basic principle that Greek seamen have honoured for centuries”, which is to rescue people at sea and “not to throw them into it, particularly in such circumstances”.
He said Kargiotis had bought a ticket and boarded the ship earlier, dashed away for unclear reasons, then tried to reboard. Varvitsiotis also said he had ordered an investigation into the way port police responded to the incident.
Attica Group, which owns the Blue Horizon, initially issued a brief statement saying that it was “devastated by the tragic incident” and would cooperate with the authorities.
In a longer statement issued several hours later, it expressed sorrow for Kargiotis’ death and pledged an investigation into the “unthinkable” incident.
Piraeus is Greece’s biggest port and the main gateway for millions of travellers visiting the country’s Aegean Sea islands and Crete every year.
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