Strong winds, rough seas, and the awareness that migrants were onboard have all been brought up and discussed during the current trial regarding the February 26 shipwreck of three years ago, off the Calabrian coast. And from some of the testimony, more details are coming to light. On February 17 this week, testimony from an officer with the Carabinieri presented results from his force's reconstruction of events and timelines during the night of the shipwreck.

The incident involving a yacht called "Summer Love" claimed the lives of 94 people, 35 of whom were minors, and an undetermined number of people are still missing.

Major Roberto Nicola Cara from the Carabinieri testified on Tuesday (February 17) in the trial that is looking at alleged delays in rescue efforts for the people on board the yacht.

In total, there are six defendants on trial: four from the Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza) and two from the port authorities. They have been charged with negligent shipwreck and multiple counts of manslaughter over their handling of the incident.

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Frontex reported sighting a boat, 'no life vests visible'

The officer tasked by the prosecutor's office with the investigation, in responding to questions from public prosecutor Matteo Staccini, detailed the chain of events based on documentation and ship logs, alongside telephone recordings of an officer at the aeronaval operating department (ROAN), part of the Financial Police in Vibo Valentia.

"We reconstructed minute by minute what happened that night," he said. The investigation highlighted that the EU border control agency Frontex reported sighting the vessel at 11.03 pm on February 25, noting the possible presence of people in closed areas of the vessel, the lack of life vests in sight, and strong winds.

This report was received by the central operating room of the Financial Police at 11.08 pm and sent out to the operating rooms of Vibo Valentia, Palermo, and Bari. Despite the circulation of the information, the ship log of the aeronaval group in Taranto shows that the official recording of the report was at 11.26 pm.

In that phase, using Google Maps, those in the operating rooms estimated that the vessel would arrive in Italian territorial waters at 3 am, they said.

The reconstruction presented in court of events is, in summary, as follows: Alarm received at 11.36 pm on February 25, and departure of Financial Police patrol boats from the Crotone port at 2.30 am on February 26 towards the migrant-laden vessel in difficulty.

The attempted rescue operation did not succeed due to adverse weather conditions, with the patrol boats returning to port in Crotone.

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Awareness of weather conditions and migrants drifting

During his testimony, the Carabinieri officer reported several messages exchanged between the Financial Police officers that showed that they were aware of the weather conditions and that it was a boat with migrants onboard.

The court records also show that, at 11.45 pm on February 25, the ROAN team in Vibo Valentia had contacted the Coast Guard. Major Cara reported the telephone recording from the Reggio Calabria port authorities in which a member of the Financial Police stated that "let's say that, for the time being, we are dealing with police activities. If the need arises, we will contact you."

The Carabinieri also reported that, "at 3.50 am on February 26, the ROAN radar operator reported the presence of the target at two miles from Capo Rizzuto; however, the correct time was 3.34 am according to the radar logs."

In a trial looking at allegations of delays, this apparent time lag could be significant. "This is important," stressed Cara, "because we are talking about a quarter of an hour. It is also true that at the same time, there was communication with the port authorities in which it was said that nothing had been sighted on the radar."

The major then made reference to a conversation at 3.48 am recorded on the logs of the MRSC (Search and Rescue coordination authorities) in Reggio Calabria. In the conversation between the ROAN operator and one of the defendants, Giuseppe G, the Carabinieri officer explained to the court that "it was not communicated that 14 minutes before the Campolongo radar had localised the vessel. The Financial Police admitted that the previous entry had been at 9 pm, but that at 3.34 am the target was seen, and that radar operators had been in the room next to the operator. It is clear that the Financial Police operator Giuseppe G. did not communicate the position of the known target at 3.34 am. The ROAN then communicated to the Coast Guard that their naval units were returning."

The officer added: "The Coast Guard knew that there was only the V5600 patrol boat and not the Barbarisi patrol boat at sea." Moreover, the major added, only at this time was it asked whether the Coast Guard had any vehicles in case of an emergency.

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