Tragedy of Otranto

Date: March 28, 1997 • Location: Otranto, Italy

In the Tragedy of Otranto, the Italian Navy vessel Sibilla collided with the Albanian civilian vessel Kateri i Radës, causing the latter to sink and leading to dozens of deaths.

The Tragedy of Otranto took place on 28 March 1997 when the Albanian ship Kateri i Radës sank in a collision with the Italian corvette Sibilla in the Strait of Otranto and at least 84 Albanians, aged 3 months to 69 years, lost their lives. The emigrants had been part of a large migration of Albanians to Italy during the 1997 Albanian civil unrest, that began after the collapse of several large-scale pyramid schemes. To prevent the unauthorized entry of migrants into Italy, the Italian Navy set up a procedure to board Albanian vessels whenever encountered, implementing a de facto blockade.