The Greek Coast Guard has caused quite a stir with a surprising move: in a circular letter, the Hellenic Coast Guard informs its field offices that in future, water sports enthusiasts who set sail despite weather warnings from the Greek authorities and weather services will have to contribute to the costs of any subsequent rescue operations and will be finedcan. This is reported by a whole range of Greek media.
In the letter, the local authorities are informed that in cases where water sports enthusiasts recklessly trigger a large-scale rescue operation despite severe weather warnings from the weather services and harbour authorities, the police authorities are instructed to investigate those rescued and to use the existing legal penalties in the event of thoughtless offences. Greek law has provided for this possibility for some time, but so far little use has been made of it.
This is necessary in view of the sharp rise in the number of operations involving obviously reckless water sports enthusiasts, as the lives of volunteers and officials are also endangered during the operations.
The original English text reads:
"In the light of the foregoing, in view of the increase in search and rescue incidents involving persons making use of the means provided for in (b), with a view to avoiding, as far as possible and in any way, future events , which give excessive and unnecessary burden to the staff involved, as well as the uncertainty of their successful outcome, often endangering the lives of people who self-serving the community as a whole, at the fault of the private sector of them, especially when they occur under extremely adverse weather conditions, known in many ways to any natural person (at least through the 21st century media and social media), including:
4.1 Intensify police inspections for compliance with Article 33 (b) related to the use of marine recreational facilities in adverse weather conditions, and, in the event of an infringement of that provision, to impose the penalties provided for.
4.2 Properly inform your Service and Port Authority personnel of the above, as well as maritime clubs, marine leaseholders and high-speed boat owners operating in your area of responsibility, in accordance with the provisions of C20."
The move was necessary because a number of recent rescue operations had caused quite a stir. Around Christmas, for example, a 52-year-old surfer went surfing with a wind forecast of 40 to 46 knots of wind and corresponding weather warnings and was driven out to sea. In another case, a stand-up paddler east of Athens ran into problems at sea when gusts of 47 to 63 knots were forecast. In both cases, the people were rescued in large-scale rescue operations. No specific examples were given of sailing yacht skippers who triggered rescue operations carelessly.
If water sports enthusiasts were to contribute to the costs of such missions, this could quickly become very expensive; according to some Greek media, the Coast Guard put the cost of a helicopter mission at up to 4,000 euros per hour.
The authorities' surprisingly strict approach is in line with a policy that Greece in particular has been pursuing for several years. For example, skippers of charter vessels that have grounded and had to be towed free or where crew members on board have been injured have been officially charged in court with endangering shipping. Although such cases usually end with a relatively low fine of a few hundred euros, the obligation to attend court and the need to hire a Greek lawyer can quickly add up.
Charter skippers are therefore well advised to pay attention to the weather warnings issued by the Greek authorities and to stay in the harbour if warnings are issued. If the forecast calls for very bad weather, it makes sense to follow Greek forecasts on VHF channel 16 or to use the Website of the Greek weather service to keep an eye on. The latest warnings are listed at the top of the homepage.
In any case, many charter contracts stipulate that you are no longer allowed to leave the harbour if there is more than 7 Beaufort or a more precisely defined knot limit. In larger harbours with professional harbour offices, these are sometimes even officially closed in the event of severe storms and sailing is then prohibited. This happens quite often for the Athens area or large islands in autumn and spring.
Andreas Fritsch
Editor Travel
