Captain & 7 Crew Arrested After Cyprus-Turkey Passenger Ferry Sinking Which Killed 8

7 people have been detained in connection with the sinking of the passenger ferry FILO Jet off Kyrenia. In the incident, out of the 267 people onboard, 8 lost their lives, 18 are missing, and 241 were rescued.

Authorities detained the captain, 7 crew members and an employee of the company which operates the vessel, who were later brought to Kyrenia District Court.

Of the 14 suspects, five, including two port officers, were allowed to leave after further proceedings, but the others have now remained in custody for 3 days. The next court hearing is on September 3, 2026.

The captain and the crew members told the court that the ship’s bow broke after it met powerful waves and started to flood, leading to its sinking.

They added that the weather was normal when the ship left Kyrenia Port in the TRNC for Tasucu Port in Mersin, in Turkiye. However, after encountering waves, it tried to return to Kyrenia but could not do so.

However, the survivors said that the crew members could not plan an evacuation and that the captain and crew were the first to leave the ship.

The court has ordered the police to look into videos made by a few passengers and also take accounts of witnesses to support the investigation.

Apart from this, radio data, maintenance records of the ferry, alarm logs and weather reports are also being studied.

The wreck has settled at a 514 m depth, and Turkiye has sent a research vessel with a diving team to get the voyage data recorder from the sunken ferry.

Turkish Cypriot Transport Minister Erhan Arikili said that the investigators were thinking of all the technical or structural failures which could have impacted the vessel’s stability, along with human error.

It has been revealed that the ferry had undergone all inspections and none was missing or overdue.