Leaked audio recordings have revealed that Greek rescue coordinators instructed the captain of the Adriana fishing boat, which capsized off the coast of Greece killing up to 650 people, to tell an approaching ship that those on board did not want to go to Greece.

The overcrowded trawler was carrying around 750 people when it sank off the coast of Greece’s Peloponnese peninsula in the early hours of 14 June 2023, in one of the deadliest refugee boat wrecks in years.

In a series of recorded phonecalls obtained by Greek news site News247.org, an unnamed man is heard instructing Adriana’s captain to tell an approaching ship that those on board do not want to reach Greece.

The call recordings also reveal that between 23:34 and 02:01, there is no recorded communication between the coordination centre, the ships near the Adriana, and the fishing trawler itself - despite the coastguard’s official press release stating that they had been informed about the vessel at 11am on 13 June.

Even this claim is being questioned as it contradicts a statement from Frontex, the European border agency, which said that one of its aircraft located the vessel at 9:47am and “immediately informed the Greek and Italian authorities about the sighting, providing them with information about the condition of the vessel, speed and photos”.

The Adriana sank at 2:06am. The order for a search and rescue operation was issued 15 minutes later