The captain of the passenger ferry which sank off the coast of Kyrenia on August 30 appeared in court in the town alongside eight other suspects – seven members of his crew and a director of the ferry’s operating company, Filo Denizcilik – on Friday.
All nine stand accused of causing death by negligence, with 14 people confirmed to have died and 14 more still unaccounted for, 12 days after the ferry sank, with the families of the missing having gathered outside the courthouse in Kyrenia to remonstrate with the suspects as they entered and exited the court.
A police representative told the court on Friday that “new evidence” has been obtained since the suspects last appeared in court las week, with computers belonging to the company director, as well as the boat’s first mate’s mobile phone having been seized as evidence.
In addition, the representative said that arrest warrants have been put out for five more people, while newspaper Yeniduzen reported that an investigation has also been launched into a crash in which the ferry was involved in 2003.
According to news website Gundem Kibris, the representative also said that the police have also obtained what is apparently footage taken by one of the 14 missing persons shortly before the boat capsized, with the video said to “show signs of fractures on the boat”.
The representative went on to say that the police are still awaiting a response from Turk Loydu, the Istanbul-based ship classification firm which examined and certified the ferry in June, regarding the procedures undertaken during the ferry’s examination.
While the certificate issued by Turk Loydu states that the certificate is valid until 2029, Turk Loydu’s online database states that the certificate is “invalid”.
It is as yet unclear whether the certificate was declared invalid before or after the ferry sank on August 30. The Cyprus Mail has reached also out to Turk Loydu and is awaiting a response.
Ferry had sailed between Kyrenia and Tasucu 385 times before sinking
Later, the representative said that the police are also awaiting information regarding the ship’s crew’s competency certificates, so that those certificate can be compared with records from Turkey.
A defence lawyer then asked whether the ship was eligible to sail under Turkish Cypriot law, with the police representative answering in the affirmative, with the defence then pointing out that the boat, named the Filo Jet, had completed 385 voyages between Kyrenia and Tasucu, the Turkish port to which it was sailing on August 30, before it sank.
The first mate’s lawyer later argued that his client should not be a suspect, arguing that she had “fulfilled her duties during the incident”.
All nine suspects were handed seven-day extensions to their remands, and will as such remain in custody until next Friday at the earliest.
Last week, it had been said in court that the captain, who was publicly named as 66-year-old Mustafa Oz, had bought his Honduran captain’s licence for $3,500.
A police representative said at the time that Oz had said under questioning that he had initially obtained a licence in Turkey, but that it had become invalid after he did not work as a boat captain for 10 years.
When he wished to resume his career, the representative said, Oz had made contact with “some people in Greece” and, using his old Turkish licence number, obtained a Honduran licence after paying $3,500.
The Cyprus Mail has contacted the Republic of Honduras’ directorate-general of merchant maritime in an attempt to verify the authenticity of the licence, and is awaiting a response.
The ferry capsized shortly after leaving the new port of Kyrenia en route to the Turkish port of Tasucu on August 30, with 259 passengers and eight crew members on board.
Click here to change your cookie preferences