SYROS, Greece, November 3 — A bomb threat to an Israel-bound cruise ship prompted a security operation at the Greek island port of Syros on Tuesday after an unknown person claimed an explosive device had been attached to its hull, Greek authorities said, in a Reuters report. The Panama-flagged Crown Iris was due to sail to Haifa carrying 940 passengers and 597 crew members when the threat was received.
Source: Reuters via WIXX
According to Greek broadcaster SKAI, cited in Greek and maritime reporting, an unidentified person contacted the captain directly over VHF marine radio and claimed a device had been placed on the ship's hull beneath the waterline. The captain immediately notified the Syros Port Authority, passengers were taken ashore as a precaution, and the vessel — operated by the Israeli company Mano Maritime and finishing a seven-night round-trip sailing that left Haifa on October 29 — was held in port while the investigation ran.
Source: SKAI via Crew Center; Kathimerini via BytesEU
The search: a detection dog, a private diver and an underwater unit
Coast guard personnel assisted by an explosives-detection dog and a private diver searched the vessel, while a special coast guard unit was deployed to the scene, Reuters reported. Initial checks found no explosive device, and coast guard specialists from the Underwater Operations Unit were expected at 9.30 p.m. local time (1930 GMT) to carry out further, thorough inspections of the hull before the ship could resume its voyage.
Source: Reuters via WIXX; Reuters via SRN News
The alert also drew in Israel's security establishment. The Times of Israel, citing Hebrew media, reported that the commander of the Israeli Navy, Eyal Harel, held consultations on the incident and spoke with counterparts in the Greek security organisations, and — according to an N12 report — with senior officials in the Shin Bet domestic security service and the Mossad foreign intelligence agency. Those consultation reports come from Hebrew media and were not confirmed on the record by the navy, the Shin Bet or the Mossad in the reporting checked for this story.
Source: Times of Israel / N12 via Israel.com
By late Tuesday evening the search was over. Ynet reported, via the Times of Israel's account of the incident, that the Crown Iris had been scanned and no unusual findings had turned up. Cruise Fever, citing Hebrew media and ship-tracking data, reported that comprehensive searches yielded no suspicious findings or explosive devices, confirming the threat was a hoax, that passengers and crew were cleared to reboard, and that the ship had left Syros and was headed to its homeport of Haifa, where it is scheduled to arrive on November 5.
Source: Ynet via Israel.com; Cruise Fever update
The Crown Iris alert came on the same day as a wave of bomb threats against seven passenger flights across Poland, Spain, Italy and Bulgaria — every one of which was also ruled a hoax, with no link between the incidents established. Read the earlier report: bomb threats target seven flights across Europe
A ship already at the centre of protests in Greece
The Crown Iris is Mano Maritime's only cruise ship, homeported year-round in Haifa, and it has repeatedly drawn pro-Palestinian protests at Greek ports since 2025. In July 2025 protesters blocked the port of Syros itself and the captain diverted the ship to Cyprus; smaller demonstrations have followed at Rhodes and Piraeus. On Monday, November 2, Syros port authorities banned a planned protest by the Syros Anti-War Initiative against this visit, with the Hellenic Coast Guard telling local media the planned waterfront demonstration posed a severe threat to public security — background reported by Anadolu Agency and Greek outlets. No official in the reporting checked has connected the bomb threat to the protests, and no such connection should be assumed.
Source: Anadolu Agency via Cruise Hive; Hellenic Coast Guard via Cruise Hive
For the people aboard, the day ended in relief rather than alarm. Passenger Ofra Avraham, 69, told the Israeli outlet Walla: "The evacuation was orderly. We have no complaints; so far, they are treating us very well." There was no claim of responsibility for the threat, and officials did not attribute blame. Reuters noted that the day's hoax threats come as European officials blame Russia and Iran for what they describe as hybrid attacks and sabotage — a campaign both Moscow and Tehran deny — and aviation-security experts told Reuters that hoax bomb threats could fit a pattern of low-cost, deniable disruption; that is expert speculation about a pattern, not an attribution for the Syros call, which remains unexplained.
Source: Walla via JFeed; Reuters via SRN News
What is solid
- An unknown person claimed an explosive device was attached to the Crown Iris's hull as it prepared to sail from Syros to Haifa with 940 passengers and 597 crew; Greek authorities mounted a coast guard search with a detection dog and divers (Reuters, citing Greek authorities).
- Initial checks and a later specialist underwater inspection found no device; Hebrew media (Ynet) reported the scan ended with nothing unusual, passengers reboarded, and tracking data showed the ship under way for Haifa, due November 5 (Cruise Fever update).
- No claim of responsibility was made, and officials established no link between the ship threat and Tuesday's seven European flight bomb threats (Reuters).
What is only claimed
- Greek media (SKAI, Kathimerini) report the warning reached the captain directly by VHF radio and named a device beneath the waterline; Reuters' account, citing Greek authorities, does not specify how the threat was delivered.
- Hebrew media reports that Israel's navy commander consulted the Shin Bet and Mossad over the incident were not confirmed on the record by any of those bodies in the reporting checked.
- Expert suggestions that hoax threats fit a Russian/Iranian hybrid-disruption pattern are speculation; Russia and Iran deny such a campaign, and no official has attributed the Syros threat.
Greek authorities have not named the caller or said how the investigation will proceed; the Crown Iris is due in Haifa on November 5 and its next scheduled Greek port call is Rhodes on November 9, where its previous visits have drawn protests. European governments, meanwhile, are jointly assessing Tuesday's wider bomb-threat wave — seven flights and now one cruise ship, every alert a hoax — to decide whether it was co-ordinated, a question officials say is still open.