Almost 1 200 tourists were evacuated in a massive rescue operation on Thursday night after a ship taking them on an Aegean cruise ran aground off the island of Santorini. Within minutes of the multi-decked vessel beginning to list, warships, helicopters, military aircraft, ferries and fishing boats were called in to help the rescue.
”Thankfully, everything has gone well. Emergency services responded very quickly and very well,” Greece’s Merchant Marine Minister, Manolis Kefaloyiannis, told state-run NET television. ”No one has been hurt.”
About 1 170 passengers — mostly Americans and Germans but also from Britain and other European countries — and 490 crew were on board when the 22 412-tonne Sea Diamond struck rocks as it tried to manoeuvre into the island’s shallow volcanic lagoon and started taking in water. The 20-year-old Greek-flagged cruiser began to list heavily.
Passengers, including a large group of Spanish schoolchildren, climbed down rope ladders to local rescue boats. Many burst into tears and hugged each other when they reached the shore. Tourists, visiting the island for Easter, watched the dramatic operation from nearby cliffs.
Santorini’s regional governor, Chrysanthos Roussis, said rescuers managed to tow the stricken vessel off the rocks and into the main harbour.
While the effort went without a hitch, the Greek union of ship engineers was quick to criticise what it described as worryingly inadequate safety measures on board. Had the weather not been fair, said mechanics, the Cypriot owner of the vessel, Louis Tours, might have had a tragedy on its hands.
”All these people should have been evacuated, according to international regulations, in 30 minutes,” said one veteran ship engineer, Nikos Manoussionakis. ”Instead it took over three hours. This entire episode raises many questions and one has to be: Why did this ship get the green light to travel in the first place. I don’t think the merchant marine ministry should be celebrating.”
The Piraeus-based Sea Diamond began its new cruise season last month. Thursday was the fourth day of what was meant to be a five-day island-hopping trip.
One passenger, Efsthios Fotidis, told Greece’s Mega TV channel that although there was panic when the vessel ran aground, no crew was on hand to help. ”You couldn’t see any crew member anywhere for at least 30 minutes. They all disappeared,” said Fotidis. He said he used his cellphone to call his wife, who then alerted the merchant marine ministry. ”It wasn’t for about 20 minutes after we hit the rocks that we heard a message in English over the Tannoy, saying, ‘Don’t panic! Stay calm!’ I couldn’t believe it.”
Louis Tours, Cyprus’s oldest and biggest tourism company, declined on Thursday night to comment on the ship’s safety measures, saying it was refurbished in 1999. ”This is not an emergency situation, but people on board are being evacuated as a precaution,” said a company spokesperson. ”No one on board was in danger.”
Louis Tours was criticised over safety standards last October when two British children, Christianne Shepherd, seven, and her brother Robert, six, died of carbon monoxide poisoning in a bungalow at a Corfu resort also owned by the company. – Guardian Unlimited Â