New details are emerging regarding the cargo ship Raptor that sank off the Greek island of Lesbos on Sunday.
The known facts so far are that the Comoros-flagged ship carrying salt to Istanbul with 14 crew on board sank some 4.5 nautical miles southwest of Lesbos. One person has died, one has been rescued and 12 people are still missing.
The ship first reported a mechanical failure at 07:00 local time, but about an hour and a-half later, the captain sent out a Mayday distress call and reported that the ship was listing. Soon later, the ship vanished off the radar.
However, more and more questions are being raised about the incident and the reasons the captain did not ask for help on time as, allegedly, there was water ingress hours earlier.
The sole survivor reportedly said the ship started taking on water on Saturday night but that the distress signal had not been sent immediately because “the shipowner did not recommend it.”
“We tried with buckets and whatever other means we had on board to get the water out. At one point, the ship took a hole, began to lean dangerously, and then I jumped overboard,” the 40-year-old survivor from Egypt was quoted in Greek media, adding that he saw four to five other people also jumping into the water.
The Greek press also writes, citing the testimony of a rescued crewmember, that the 1984-built ship was actually heading to Ukraine and that the authorities are highly suspicious of the cargo the vessel was transporting.
The Raptor, linked to Lebanese firm Cedar Marine Services, has had a colourful past. Some two years ago, the ship was blacklisted by international control authorities after it was found that the documents relating to the crewmembers were not approved and there were illegal entries in the oil book, indicating illegal activities, including smuggling.
Cedar Marine Services owned the 1982-built cargo ship Manassa Rose M, which ran aground in Kissamos Bay in Crete in January 2022 and was split in two. Authorities charged the crew for their conduct that contributed to the shipwreck, as well as for carrying smuggled tobacco products.
