A 45-year-old man died and two elderly passengers, aged 82 and 79, were pulled unconscious from the water after a car plunged into the sea at the Port of Piraeus on Sunday evening, near the port’s Gate E2.
The Hellenic Coast Guard launched a large-scale search and rescue operation immediately after the vehicle entered the water, deploying a patrol vessel, divers from its specialist Underwater Missions Unit, private boats and a vessel from the Port Pilotage Service. Three ambulances from Greece’s national emergency medical service, EKAB, were also dispatched to the scene.
Emergency Response Near Gate E2
The car entered the sea near Gate E2, one of the main vehicle and passenger access points at Piraeus, Greece’s largest port complex. Coast Guard crews and underwater specialists worked to reach the submerged vehicle and free the trapped occupants as rescuers raced against time.
The 45-year-old man was recovered from the water but could not be revived, while the two elderly occupants, found unconscious inside the car, were extracted and transferred by EKAB ambulance crews for emergency treatment. Private vessels operating in the harbor and a Port Pilotage Service boat assisted Coast Guard units during the rescue, underscoring the scale of the mobilization at the busy passenger terminal.
Cause of the Incident Under Investigation
Authorities have not yet established how the vehicle ended up in the water, and the Hellenic Coast Guard has opened an investigation into the circumstances of the accident. No details have been released regarding the vehicle’s movements before it entered the sea or whether mechanical, infrastructural or human factors played a role.
This is not the first time a vehicle has gone into the water near the same gate this year. In May 2026, an 89-year-old driver was rescued unharmed after his car plunged into the sea close to Gate E2, prompting a similar Coast Guard response. A separate incident involving a vehicle entering the water near the adjacent Gate E4 was also reported earlier in the year, though the outcome and cause in that case were not confirmed by authorities.
Piraeus Port’s Passenger and Vehicle Operations
Piraeus is Greece’s principal passenger and cargo gateway, serving ferry, cruise and container traffic and widely described as one of the Mediterranean’s leading passenger shipping hubs. Piraeus Port Authority (PPA), in which COSCO Shipping holds a majority stake, operates multiple gates handling the constant flow of private vehicles, trucks and foot passengers boarding ferries bound for the Greek islands and beyond.
The recurrence of vehicles entering the sea at or near the port’s gates is likely to renew scrutiny of pedestrian and vehicle safety measures at ferry embarkation points, including barriers, lighting and signage along quay edges. PPA has in recent months been carrying out infrastructure upgrade works at other parts of the port, though no public statement has linked those projects to gate-area vehicle safety.
Why it matters
Piraeus is Greece’s busiest port and a critical node for passenger ferry traffic to the Aegean islands as well as container and vehicle cargo moving through the eastern Mediterranean. A fatal incident at one of its main vehicle gates, compounded by at least two prior similar episodes at the same access points in 2026, raises questions about quay-edge safety infrastructure at a facility handling millions of passengers and vehicles annually. The Hellenic Coast Guard’s rapid multi-agency response also illustrates the emergency readiness required at a hub central to Greece’s domestic ferry network and broader maritime economy.
Source: Greek City Times
