20 Missing After North Cyprus Ferry Sinking Likely Went Down With Ship, Officials Say
KYRENIA, Cyprus — The 20 people still unaccounted for after a passenger ferry capsized off northern Cyprus over the weekend almost certainly went down with the vessel, authorities said Wednesday, as search teams worked a fourth day at the scene.
At least eight people were killed when the FiloJet, a French-built catamaran carrying 267 people, sank shortly after leaving the port of Kyrenia on Sunday. The ferry was headed for the Turkish mainland when it went down several nautical miles offshore around midday.
Officials in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), a breakaway state recognized only by Turkey, said the dead were all Turkish nationals. The search continues for the 20 missing, 18 of whom are Turkish nationals and two of whom are residents of northern Cyprus.
“Search operations continue for the 20 missing individuals whom we believe are on the ship,” TRNC Prime Minister Unal Ustel told reporters at the port, known in Turkish as Girne.
TRNC President Tufan Erhurman said teams have reached the wreck, which is resting at a depth of roughly 550 meters. “Survey and search operations are continuing on a 24-hour basis and will continue without interruption,” he said, according to the official TAK news agency.
Two Turkish navy vessels are assisting: the TCG Isin, which carries an underwater drone capable of diving to a depth of 1,000 meters, and the TCG Alemdar, which arrived Wednesday.
Erhurman’s comments came as northern Cyprus observed a third day of national mourning and two more victims were reported buried in the Turkish port city of Mersin.
Police have detained the ferry’s captain and 15 other people. Nine of them appeared in court Monday charged with negligent homicide, while seven others face court proceedings. The captain said in court that the vessel’s bow had been smashed open by the force of the waves, according to Turkey’s Anadolu news agency.
The ferry’s history has also drawn attention in the aftermath of the disaster. Initially registered as IrisJet about 25 years ago, it later appeared in shipping records under Spanish and Greek flags before taking the Cyprus flag and the name FiloJet in 2024.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded the island’s north after an Athens-engineered Greek Cypriot coup seeking union with Greece. The TRNC declared independence in 1983 but is recognized only by Turkey, leaving it dependent on regular sea and air links with the Turkish mainland. The disaster is likely to put the safety of that ferry corridor under renewed scrutiny.