Forensic Oceanography

On 14 June 2023, a boat carrying hundreds of migrants sank inside the Greek search and rescue zone in the Mediterranean Sea–the deadliest migrant shipwreck in recent history. Our digital reconstructions of the boat and mapping of its trajectory reveal inconsistencies in the Hellenic Coast Guard's (HCG) account and indicate that over 600 people drowned as the result of a failed towing by the HCG.

When the Libyan coastguard interrupted a rescue operation by the NGO Sea Watch, at least twenty migrants lost their lives, and more were "pulled back" to inhumane detention in Libya. Forensic Oceanography shone a light on the practices of a coastguard funded and trained by the Italian government.