The body of a 15th victim of the Filo Jet ferry disaster has been recovered from the wreck off Girne, as the painstaking underwater search continues and investigators examine evidence suggesting part of the vessel had been damaged and repaired months before the tragedy.
TRNC Prime Minister Ünal Üstel announced on Saturday, 19 September, that search teams had reached the body of another person who had been listed as missing.
The discovery raises the confirmed death toll from the disaster to 15, with another 13 people still unaccounted for. Of the 267 passengers and crew aboard Filo Jet when it sank on 30 August, 239 survived.
The latest body was found in the wreck, which lies around 554 metres beneath the Mediterranean. Its identity has not yet been established, with Üstel confirming that formal identification procedures have begun.
“Other efforts to reach our missing people are continuing without interruption,” the prime minister said, adding that the authorities hoped all those still missing would be found.
Search moves inside heavily damaged wreck
The recovery follows a new phase of the underwater operation after the specialist deep-sea vessel Optimus Prime began work at the site this week.
Equipped with remotely operated underwater technology, the vessel has been trying to penetrate previously inaccessible areas of Filo Jet. Reports from the search indicate that around half of the vessel’s upper deck has collapsed, requiring teams to remove or cut through wreckage to reach lower decks, cabins and enclosed spaces.
The specialist operation follows the earlier work of Turkish Navy rescue vessels TCG Işın and TCG Alemdar, whose underwater teams recovered six of the victims from the wreck.
As of Friday, the ferry’s voyage data recorder — commonly referred to as its “black box” — had still not been recovered. Finding it is regarded as an important part of the wider technical investigation into why the vessel took on water and capsized shortly after leaving Girne for Taşucu.
Nine suspects remain in custody
Meanwhile, the criminal investigation into the disaster has continued to widen.
Nine suspects — including a Filo Denizcilik company director, the ferry’s captain, second captain, engineers and other crew members — appeared for a fourth time before Girne District Court on Friday, 18 September.
They are being investigated on suspicion of causing death through negligence and carelessness. The court ordered that all nine remain in police custody for a further seven days while enquiries continue. Five additional people covered by arrest warrants are still being sought.
Police told the court that more than 300 witness statements have now been taken. Investigators are examining the vessel’s maintenance history, certification, crew training, electronic communications and its previous accident record.
Ferry damage allegedly known in June
Among the most significant new evidence disclosed in court are photographs and WhatsApp messages concerning damage to Filo Jet several months before it sank.
Police said a photograph dated 17 June 2026, found on the second captain’s phone, showed damage to the vessel’s left-front section. The court heard allegations that the damaged area had subsequently received what police described as a “superficial” or makeshift repair carried out by the captain and crew.
Investigators said the second captain had reported the issue to a company official in Türkiye, while WhatsApp exchanges and photographs are being examined to establish who knew about the damage and what action was taken.
The timing has also attracted scrutiny because Filo Jet had left maintenance at an Adana shipyard on 30 April and was certified by Türk Loydu on 2 June — just over two weeks before the June damage documented by investigators. Police are now examining the shipyard work and whether the vessel was already damaged when it arrived there.
Investigators have also obtained records relating to an earlier accident involving the vessel in 2003, while questions remain over crew training, the ship’s operating records and other aspects of its certification and inspection history.
Post-mortem examinations on the 14 victims recovered before Saturday established drowning as their cause of death.
The precise cause of the Filo Jet sinking has not yet been formally determined and both the criminal and technical investigations remain ongoing.
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