Filo Denizcilik has been permitted to resume some commercial sailings between Türkiye and North Cyprus less than a month after one of its passenger ferries sank off Girne, killing at least 15 people.
The company’s Ro-Ro cargo vessel Şampiyon Melekler has returned to the Mersin–Mağusa route after receiving fresh technical approval from Türk Loydu, the classification organisation responsible for assessing the vessel.
The move represents a partial lifting of restrictions imposed on Filo Denizcilik following the 30 August Filo Jet disaster, when the company’s catamaran sank shortly after leaving Girne for Taşucu.
Fifteen people have so far been confirmed dead, while 13 remain missing and 239 were rescued. A wide-ranging criminal and technical investigation into the disaster remains ongoing.
The TRNC Public Works and Transport Ministry announced on Sunday, 27 September that Şampiyon Melekler had undergone four days of comprehensive technical inspections by Türk Loydu, which found no impediment to the vessel returning to service. It has been issued with a Class Certificate valid until 12 December 2026.
The ministry said hundreds of lorries had accumulated at Mersin Port following the suspension of services, creating disruption to the supply chain, and that allowing the vessel to operate would help ease the backlog.
Şampiyon Melekler subsequently arrived in Mağusa carrying around 70 lorries and is expected to operate daily while the backlog is cleared. Transport Minister Faiz Sucuoğlu told Bugün Kıbrıs that the vessel had undergone extensive checks before both technical approval and permission to enter North Cyprus were granted.
Sucuoğlu said two other Filo Denizcilik vessels have not been authorised to resume operations because they have not received the necessary technical approval, meaning the decision does not amount to a blanket restoration of the company’s services.
TRNC Transport Minister Faiz Sucuoğlu
He also rejected reports that Şampiyon Melekler had received exemptions from state charges, saying there had been “no privilege” and that the normal requirements had been followed.
Union calls for greater transparency
The resumption has nevertheless attracted criticism over how the decision was communicated.
Customs workers’ union Güç-Sen has called on the Transport Ministry to publish the vessel’s seaworthiness reports, survey results and other documentation underpinning its decision.
The union recalled that the ministry announced on 31 August that Filo Denizcilik’s sailings had been suspended “until further notice”, and questioned when and through what formal process that order had been altered.
When Şampiyon Melekler was initially permitted to leave North Cyprus for Mersin on 12 September, officials had specifically stressed that the voyage was for technical inspection and did not signify a return to commercial operations.
Güç-Sen said it was not opposed to trade continuing, but wanted the process to be transparent, particularly while criminal proceedings relating to Filo Jet remain under way.
“Our demand is that the process is managed transparently,” the union said, adding that the timing was sensitive while 15 people had died and 13 families were still waiting for news of missing relatives.
The ministry maintains that the vessel has passed the necessary technical checks and says it will continue monitoring the technical and administrative requirements governing safe and uninterrupted maritime transport.
Meanwhile, the investigation into the Filo Jet sinking continues. The vessel’s voyage-data recorder, or “black box”, was recovered last week and has been handed to police for examination, while investigators continue to examine the ferry’s condition, previous repairs, inspections and the decisions taken before and during its final voyage.
No definitive cause of the sinking has yet been established.
