Clean-up begins after fatal Cape Greco boat accident

Nicosia, Cyprus. Crews have begun collecting wreckage from the PETSAS I and PERLA BIANCA, two boats destroyed off Cape Greco in an accident that killed businessman Dimis Mavropoulos. The operation is expected to take seven working days.

Recovery operation

A private company has been hired to carry out the clean-up using boats, a crane and divers. Smaller pieces of wreckage are being retrieved, while larger sections of both boats remain on the seabed and will require a large crane to be lifted out.

Theodoulos Mesimeris, deputy director-general of the Deputy Ministry of Shipping, said authorities acted immediately to complete the clean-up as quickly as possible.

Assessment and tender

Mesimeris said the process began on Sunday in cooperation with the Department of Fisheries. Officials recorded objects along the coastline and on the seabed, where divers surveyed the wreckage.

An urgent tender for the lifting and collection of all debris was issued on Monday. The tender was awarded to VTS (Vasiliko Terminal Services), which operates tugboats and anti-pollution equipment at Vasiliko.

Costs and disposal

Insurance companies for the two sunken boats will cover the estimated €170,000 cost of the operation, Mesimeris said.

In cooperation with the Cyprus Ports Authority, authorities decided that the wreckage would be moved to a covered Cyprus Ports Authority facility at Larnaca port.

Pollution measures

The operation began in the presence of representatives of the insurance companies, the Port Police, the Department of Fisheries and the Deputy Ministry of Shipping.

The first equipment arrived yesterday, with a containment boom laid as an initial measure to address pollution concerns. Boats remain in the area, while divers continue recovering smaller debris and a crane is due to arrive for the larger sections.