The “black box” from the Filo Jet passenger ferry that sank off Girne last month has finally been recovered, potentially giving investigators crucial new evidence about the circumstances leading to the disaster.
TRNC Prime Minister Ünal Üstel confirmed on Friday, 25 September, that the vessel’s Voyage Data Recorder (VDR) had been located during deep-sea operations and handed to police for examination.
The device could provide investigators with important navigational and technical information from the ferry’s final journey and help reconstruct events before it capsized and sank on 30 August, shortly after leaving Girne for Taşucu in southern Türkiye.
The disaster has so far claimed 15 lives, while 13 people remain missing. Of the 267 passengers and crew aboard Filo Jet, 239 were rescued alive.
The wreck was eventually located some 554 metres beneath the Mediterranean, triggering an exceptionally complex underwater search involving Turkish Navy rescue ships and remotely operated vehicles before specialist civilian deep-sea vessel Optimus Prime took over the operation.
Üstel told relatives of the missing on Friday that teams had now reached and searched every section of the Filo Jet wreck, which has been cut open in places to gain access to previously inaccessible areas. No further bodies were found inside.
Search efforts for the 13 people still unaccounted for are continuing at sea, from the air and along the coastline.
Wreck to remain on seabed
Earlier hopes that the entire Filo Jet might eventually be raised from the seabed have also receded.
After the government sought specialist advice on the feasibility of recovering the vessel, maritime publication TurkSail reported that raising the wreck from a depth of more than half a kilometre was considered technically extremely difficult and financially impractical.
Instead, sections of Filo Jet have been cut and dismantled underwater to allow the remotely operated vehicle to penetrate and search the vessel.
The recovery of the VDR is therefore particularly significant, as it gives investigators another potentially important source of evidence even though the vessel itself is expected to remain on the seabed.
A wide-ranging criminal and technical investigation is examining numerous issues surrounding the tragedy, including the ferry’s condition, earlier structural damage and repairs, its inspections and certification, the decision to sail and the actions of the captain and crew after water began entering the vessel.
Nine suspects appeared again before Girne District Court on Friday and were ordered to remain in custody for a further seven days while police continue their investigation. More than 320 witness statements have now been taken. Investigators have stressed that the definitive cause of the sinking has not yet been established.
15th victim laid to rest in Mardin
The most recent person recovered from the wreck was subsequently identified as 26-year-old Mehmet Bayhan (pictured below), whose body was found on 19 September.
Bayhan was returned to his native Mardin in southeast Türkiye and laid to rest on 23 September in Kuruyöy, in the Nusaybin district. Following funeral prayers, he was buried in his family cemetery.
His recovery raised the number of confirmed fatalities to 15 and reduced the number officially missing to 13.
For the families still waiting for news of their loved ones, Üstel has said the search will continue despite the exhaustive examination of the wreck.
The recovery and analysis of Filo Jet’s VDR will now be closely watched as investigators try to establish why the ferry took on water and sank so rapidly, and whether actions or failures before or during its final voyage contributed to one of North Cyprus’ worst maritime disasters.
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