An emergency meeting at the Search and Rescue Coordination Center was held on Tuesday morning (1/9), in which the issues that arose after the tragedy in Cape Greco with the victim businessman Dimi Mavropoulos were raised. At the meeting, which took place in the presence of the Ministers of Justice and Agriculture and the Deputy Minister of Shipping, important decisions were made in relation to the very serious gap for the departure of boats in case of bad weather. Specifically, as the Minister of Justice announced, most likely tomorrow, the Cabinet will approve a temporary Decree for sailing, until the implementation of the relevant legislation.
"We considered it appropriate after the incident in Cape Greco to meet the competent ministers, to examine the incident, what happened, how it happened so that we can make some decisions about what can be done in the transitional period and I say transitional period because the creation of the coast guard has already been approved by the Council of Ministers, so that there is a single coordination for all maritime activities. Today there is a dispersion of responsibilities that we had identified. For 60 years there has been this dispersion of responsibilities and we had identified it and that is why since March the government has taken the decision to create the coast guard", noted the Minister of Justice, adding that the relevant bill is for legislative review and then it will go to Parliament for a vote.
"This incident brought to the surface some distortions, which, however, in the transitional stage we will resolve with a series of decisions taken today. More specifically, a decision will be issued by the Council of Ministers, hopefully tomorrow, which will concern the prohibition of departure depending on the weather conditions and depending on the size and displacement of the ships. This will help us so that everyone understands that there will be repercussions for those who violate this decision. This will be valid until the passage of the bill on the coast guard. The bill provides for sanctions for those who violate the decrees that will stem from the bill," he noted.
He also noted that the monitoring of the Decree will be undertaken by the Port Police and the Police Helicopter Squadron "so that in time, after the issuance by the Meteorological Service for adverse weather conditions, the coasts are checked and all those who are outside ports and marinas are invited to enter ports and marinas to protect themselves".
Mr. Fytiris also noted that the operation last Saturday "was carried out with full coordination by the KSED and with a great risk for the helicopters that we will have to recognize. Perhaps the worst was averted because the situation was very critical with these boats being near the rocks from which two were lost."
"We hope and believe and we will put it into practice," added Mr. Fytiris that "such an incident will not happen again, but the assistance of citizens and boat owners is also needed to listen to the warnings of both the Meteorological Service and the KSED because the warnings are sent to everyone."
