Koufonisi: flare triggers Coast Guard response

A mobilisation of the Naxos Port Authority was triggered at midday on Monday 24 August 2026 by a citizen’s report of a flare spotted in the wider sea area of Ano Koufonisi. According to the update, the signal came from the sea. The local emergency plan was activated immediately, a procedure that involves notifying available vessels in the area and coordinating a search of the sea space, since a flare is by definition treated as a distress signal until proven otherwise. Ano Koufonisi belongs to the Small Cyclades and administratively falls under the Municipality of Naxos and Small Cyclades, while the responsible port authority is based in Naxos.

The professional tourist boat “Kapetan Kostas” N. Syrou 962 went to the scene and located the passenger tourist boat “Apollonis” with six foreign nationals on board, Belgian citizens. According to the passengers’ own statement, the boat had suffered a mechanical breakdown and the flare had been fired by them so as to be noticed. The “Apollonis” subsequently docked safely at the port of Ano Koufonisi. The Port Authority reported no injury to anyone on board, and no marine pollution was observed in the area.

The incident shows how the safety network works in practice in the Small Cyclades, where there is no permanently stationed patrol vessel on every island. The first response came from a private commercial vessel that happened to be nearby, with coordination carried out from Naxos, several miles away. This mechanism relies heavily on the availability of tourist and fishing boats, especially in August when traffic peaks. Similar mechanical breakdown incidents have been recorded repeatedly this year in the area, such as the breakdown of a speedboat with five people on board near Iraklia and the breakdown of a sailboat with three people on board near Ios. The permanent population of Koufonisia is small and emergency infrastructure limited, meaning the speed of response depends heavily on which vessels happen to be at sea at the time.

The Naxos Port Authority banned the vessel from sailing until the breakdown is repaired and a certificate of seaworthiness is presented by the classification society. This is a standard measure that is lifted once it is certified that the vessel can travel safely, and it applies regardless of whether any fault is established. The passengers’ decision to fire a flare instead of first contacting the Port Authority is not commented on in the announcement, nor is it stated whether any further administrative or criminal proceedings will follow against them. As of 25 August 2026, no lifting of the sailing ban had been announced, nor the type of fault the vessel’s engine had developed. The announcement does not say whether any vessels besides the “Kapetan Kostas” took part in the search.