As of: March 28, 2024, 5:30 a.m
By: Natascha Berger
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The houseboat that capsized on Lake Maggiore in 2023 is said to have been full of agents. The shipwreck left unanswered questions for a long time. Now speculations seem to be confirmed.
Rome – The news about the ship accident on Lake Maggiore on Whit Sunday 2023 caused a lot of speculation. At that time, the houseboat “Goduria” with 23 passengers capsized in a severe storm and four people did not survive the accident. While at first only a birthday party on the boat was reported, reports quickly piled up that sounded like the script of a secret agent thriller. Apart from the crew, only active and former Israeli and Italian secret service agents are said to have been on board. Now these rumors have been officially confirmed for the first time.
Memorial plaque unveiled on Lake Maggiore: Deceased agents carried out “delicate activity”.
The truth about the shipwreck has now been revealed through a memorial plaque. The Italian newspaper
La Repubblica
reports that two stars on a memorial plaque and memorial stones reveal the names of the two deceased secret agents. The two of the four victims are 53-year-old Tiziana B. and 62-year-old Claudio A. Anyone who visits the shore of Lake Maggiore in Italy can read in a written statement: “They lost their lives on the 28th “May 20 in the waters of Lake Maggiore while carrying out a sensitive operational activity with related foreign services.” No further details were provided.
Four fatalities in shipwreck - including two Italian and one Israeli secret agent
A total of eight Italian and 13 Israeli agents as well as the captain of the houseboat and his wife are said to have been on board. The captain's wife, a 50-year-old Russian woman, did not survive the boat accident. A retired high-ranking agent from the Israeli secret service Mossad also died at the time. The other Israelis on the boat who were able to escape to shore or on other boats were quickly taken out of the country. This further fueled speculation about the secret operation on Lake Maggiore.
Emergency services retrieve the sunken boat on Lake Maggiore, which capsized on Whit Sunday 2023. © Vigili del Fuoco/dpa
It is not yet clear why the houseboat capsized and had to be rescued from 15 meters. At around 5:30 p.m. on the day of the accident, all ships on Lake Maggiore received a severe weather warning. According to the prosecutor's investigation, the boat should not have left the port of Lisaza. In addition, the houseboat was designed for a maximum of 15 passengers - so it was heavily overcrowded at the time of the accident. The Italian public prosecutor's office is investigating the captain and owner of the houseboat, a 53-year-old Italian.
Spy triangle on Lake Maggiore? Speculation about the background to the agents' boat trip
It is still unclear what “delicate operational activity” the secret agents wanted to carry out on the houseboat. Italian media reported at the time that the region around northern Italy, southeastern France and southern Switzerland was a well-known “spy triangle”. This is known for secret actions by national and international agents, such as the fatal birthday party on the houseboat on Lake Maggiore.
(nbe/dpa)