ATHENS – Hope has faded for dozens of missing passengers after a fishing trawler carrying migrants capsized on Wednesday, June 14. The Associated Press reported that “a huge search-and-rescue operation initially recovered 78 bodies and picked up 104 survivors – all men and boys. But no more have been found.”

Nine of the survivors were arrested Thursday on suspicion of smuggling and attention has turned to Greek actions before the ship capsized.

“The trawler may have carried as many as 750 passengers, including women and children who were likely trapped in the hold as the vessel overturned and went down early Wednesday. That could make the sinking one of the deadliest ever in the central Mediterranean Sea,” wrote Derek Gatopoulos and Nicholas Paphites for AP.

The article noted that, “Greek authorities were criticized for not acting to rescue the migrants, even though a coast guard vessel escorted the trawler for hours and watched helplessly as it sank in minutes. Greek officials argued that the migrants repeatedly refused assistance and insisted on continuing to Italy. Legal experts said that was no excuse.”

The Greek coast guard said the nine survivors were arrested on suspicion of belonging to the smuggling ring that arranged the voyage. “State-run ERT TV said the suspects were all Egyptians, adding that the ship originally left an Egyptian port for the area of Tobruk in eastern Libya, where it picked up the migrants,” according to AP.

Relatives of the migrants gathered in Kalamata to search for their loved ones – who each paid thousands of dollars to be smuggled into Europe on the risky vessel.

AP writes: “Greek authorities said the vessel appeared to be sailing normally until shortly before it sank and refused repeated rescue offers. But a network of activists said they received repeated distress calls from the vessel during the same time.”

The report continues: “The Greek coast guard said it was notified of the boat’s presence late Tuesday morning and observed by helicopter that it was ‘sailing on a steady course’ at 6 p.m. A little later, Greek search-and-rescue officials reached someone on the boat by satellite phone, who repeatedly said that passengers needed food and water but wanted to continue to Italy.”

According to AP, “merchant ships delivered supplies and observed the vessel until early Wednesday morning, when the satellite phone user reported a problem with the engine. About 40 minutes later, according to the coast guard statement, the migrant vessel began to rock violently and sank. Coast guard experts believe the boat may have run out of fuel or experienced engine trouble, with movement of passengers causing it to list and capsize.”

AP noted that “experts said maritime law would have required Greek authorities to attempt a rescue if the boat was unsafe, regardless of whether passengers requested it. Search and rescue ‘is not a two-way contract. You don’t need consent,’ retired Italian coast guard Adm. Vittorio Alessandro said.”

In response, AP writes, “Greece’s caretaker minister for civil protection, Evangelos Tournas, defended the coast guard’s conduct, saying it couldn’t intervene with an unwilling vessel in international waters.”

“Consider also that an intervention by the coast guard could have placed an overloaded vessel in danger, which could capsize as a result,” he said.

The BBC wrote that, “Greece is observing three days of mourning. Campaigning has been suspended ahead of the parliamentary election on 25 June and a TV debate due to happen on Thursday has been cancelled. Several marches in protest at the tragedy took place on Thursday evening in Athens,” leading to clashes with police.

(Material from the Associated Press and the BBC was used in this report)