Missing passengers likely went down with sunken ferry: N.Cyprus official

The 20 people missing from a passenger ferry that capsized off northern Cyprus likely went down with the ship, officials said Wednesday as rescue operations continued for a fourth day.

At least eight people died when the packed ferry carrying 267 people sank shortly after leaving Kyrenia port on the northern shore of the divided island.

All of them were Turkish, according to officials from the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) -- an entity recognised only by Ankara.

"Search operations continue for the 20 missing individuals whom we believe are on the ship," TRNC prime minister Unal Ustel told reporters at Kyrenia port, known in Turkish as Girne.

Of that number, 18 are Turkish nationals and two are residents of northern Cyprus, officials have said.

The FiloJet, a French-made catamaran registered in 2001, is currently lying at a depth of 550 metres (1,700 feet) with two Turkish navy vessels equipped with deep-diving drones currently examining the wreckage.

Earlier, TRNC president Tufan Erhurman confirmed they had reached the ferry, which foundered several nautical miles from the port from which it had sail for the Turkish mainland at around midday on Sunday.

"They reached the (sunken) vessel," Erhurman said according to the official TAK news agency.

"Survey and search operations are continuing on a 24-hour basis and will continue without interruption," he added.

On Tuesday, a specialist Turkish vessel, the TCG Isin -- equipped with an underwater drone capable of descending to depths up to 1,000 metres (3,300 feet) -- joined the rescue operation with a second, the TCG Alemdar, arriving on Wednesday.

His words came as two more of the dead were reportedly buried in the Turkish port city of Mersin as northern Cyprus observed a third day of national mourning.

Police detained the ferry's captain and 15 others, nine of whom appeared in court in Kyrenia on Monday charged with negligent homicide, with another seven people also facing court proceedings.

In court, the captain said the front of the vessel had been smashed open by the force of the waves, Turkey's Anadolu news agency said.

When it was first registered 25 years ago, the ferry went under the name IrisJet.

According to International Maritime Organization (IMO) data seen by AFP, the IrisJet sailed under a Spanish flag between 2011 and 2017.

But data from the Equasis global merchant shipping database seen by AFP shows the IrisJet flying a Spanish flag up to 2011 after which there is a six-year gap until 2017 when it re-emerges under a Greek flag.

Since 2024, it has flown a Cyprus flag and operated under the name FiloJet.

Cyprus has been split since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied the northern third of the island in response to an Athens-engineered Greek Cypriot coup seeking unification with Greece.

Today the island comprises the breakaway republic, which declared independence in 1983 but is only recognised by Turkey, and the EU member Republic of Cyprus in the south.

The TRNC is served by regular air and sea links to Turkey.