Six military personnel from Italy’s Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza) and Coast Guard (Guardia Costiera) have been ordered to stand trial for alleged delays in responding to the “Summer Love” migrant boat shipwreck. The February 26, 2023 disaster off Steccato di Cutro resulted in 94 deaths, including 35 minors. Crotone preliminary hearings judge (GUP) Elisa Marchetto issued the indictment order following the preliminary hearing.
The four Financial Police officers facing charges of negligent shipwreck and multiple counts of negligent homicide at the Crotone Court, with the trial set to begin January 14, are:
Giuseppe Grillo, 56, shift leader at the Vibo Valentia Naval Air Operations Unit (ROAN) operations room.
Alberto Lippolis, 50, Commander of the ROAN in Vibo Valentia.
Antonino Lopresti, 51, Tactical Command Officer.
Nicolino Vardaro, 52, Commander of the Taranto Naval Air Group.
The two indicted Coast Guard officers are:
Francesca Perfido, 40, Coast Guard officer.
Nicola Nania, 51, who was on duty at the Reggio Calabria Port Authority the night of the sinking.
During the preliminary hearing, prosecutor Pasquale Festa reconstructed the events of February 25-26, arguing that a series of underestimations intersected with inadequate equipment, inefficient resources, and critically, a lack of information sharing between the Financial Police and Coast Guard. Festa asserted that no one followed the established “rules of engagement” defined by regulations and, crucially, the 2005 operational technical agreement interpreted by a technical panel established under the Draghi government. This procedure mandates initial covert monitoring by police forces when boats enter national waters, followed by visual monitoring, with Coast Guard rescue intervention only subsequently activated. Festa stated there were “serious negligence” failures in implementing this protocol.
The prosecutor emphasized the primary cause of the shipwreck was the failure to share information between the Financial Police and the Port Authority. Such information, Festa argued, could have “impacted the assessment of the operational scenario.” Specific allegations include the “failure to communicate the navigational difficulties” encountered by Financial Police units due to weather and sea conditions, and “the delay in preparing interception operations of the caique, in the absence of effective and efficient radar monitoring.” For the Coast Guard officers, the charges center on the “failure to acquire the necessary information to have an actual picture of what the Financial Police were doing.”
The preliminary hearing began on March 5. Judge Marchetto examined 113 requests to join the proceedings as civil parties, admitting 88, mostly from victims’ relatives and survivors. Major NGOs were also admitted as civil parties.
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