Şahap Aşıkoğlu: Filo Jet received 26 complaints in a year; the problem lies in the system itself

Former permanent secretary of the ministry Şahap Aşıkoğlu stated that the Filo Jet catamaran, which sank off Kyrenia, received 26 complaints over the past year and around 100 throughout its entire period of operation. According to him, removing the transport minister from office does not solve the problem by itself: the cause of the disaster lies in the oversight system.

Aşıkoğlu recalled that 23 years ago the same vessel operated under the name Iris Jet: at the time, it struck a pier and suffered a breach in its hull. The complaints filed over the past year concerned both service delays and the catamaran’s technical condition.

He described the sinking as the result of “years of accumulated negligence and a lack of competence”. In his assessment, the practice of making appointments based on party affiliation had been developing for around 50 years, and the opposition, which is now calling for resignations, reproduces the same pattern when it comes to power.

Aşıkoğlu proposed four mechanisms. An inspection of a vessel should begin automatically when the number of safety complaints exceeds a set threshold, and its licence should be renewed only after such an inspection. He proposed maintaining an open registry of each vessel’s accident, maintenance and repair history, independently verifying foreign captains’ diplomas, and recording every permit to put to sea together with data on the weather and sea conditions.

According to him, inspections should cover not only the authorities of the TRNC but also maintenance and certification procedures in Turkey. He also pointed to other gaps: fire services lack sufficient capacity amid large-scale high-rise construction, while the TRNC lacks adequate maritime rescue infrastructure despite having two major ports.

The search for those missing off Kyrenia is continuing.