Stupid Ship Captain Grounds Cruise Ship

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Subsequent news story....
Cruise Ship Tourists Rescued Off Greek Island
By THANASSIS STAVRAKIS, AP

ATHENS, Greece (April 6) - Scores of passengers climbed down rope ladders to rescue vessels after a Greek cruise ship struck a reef Thursday and started listing in the Mediterranean, forcing the evacuation of 1,600 people including North Carolina high school students.

Authorities said most of the nearly 1,200 passengers on the Greek-flagged Sea Diamond were American tourists. At least two school groups from Canada, more than 100 Spaniards and a crew of almost 400 were also on board when the ship hit the rocks off the island of Santorini shortly before 4 p.m.

"A lot of us were taking pictures from when we were coming into Santorini. All of a sudden, there was this big jolt," said Catherine Small, 17, one of more than two dozen students from North Carolina on board.

"The ship was really far tilted. It was actually kind of freaking us out - scary," Small, who attends Chapel Hill High School, told the Associated Press.

Passengers said most people remained calm though there were some tense moments waiting for the rescue.

"People were nervous, women were screaming and it was a struggle to get to a life jacket. said passenger Ben Kucenko, a telecoms technician from Jeelong, Australia. "We were scared the boat was going to tip over. We could barely walk."

Tiffany Gittens, an event coordinator from New York, said at first passengers mistook the sound of rocks screeching against the boat for an anchor dropping.

"We were all sitting in the dining room, and the boat started to tilt and it started to tilt more to the other side," Gittens told the Associated Press, speaking by telephone from Santorini after her rescue.

"Everyone was pretty calm. A lot of the kids that were under 18, they looked pretty nerve-wracked. ... You'd see glasses fly by, and things got broken but everybody was pretty calm," she said. "They got us all on one side of the boat and we put on our life jackets. The (crew) did a pretty good job, they were well prepared for what happened."

More than a dozen ships were involved in the rescue effort, along with six navy rescue helicopters, two military transport planes and four warships.

"The ship was evacuated quickly and successfully. ... No one had as much as a nose bleed," Merchant Marine Minister Manolis Kefaloyiannis said.

"With a ship this size, it's like dealing with a 12-story building. It's a difficult operation," he said.

The Merchant Marine Ministry said 1,195 passengers and 391 crew members were on board.

David Land, 17, of Middle Creek High School in Apex, N.C., said in a telephone interview with the AP that he was taken to a restaurant after being evacuated and was due to travel to Athens on an overnight boat.

"Everybody is perfectly fine," he said.

His mother, Deniece Land of Raleigh, N.C., said she had talked to her son several times this week during the trip.

"They had been around Greece and Athens and were coming back from Turkey. He called ... and he said 'This ship is taking on water and we're going down.' I said, 'Don't play with me.' He said, 'I have a life vest on.'"

Before reaching Santorini, the ship had stopped at the Greek islands of Rhodes and Mykonos and the Turkish resort of Kusadasi.

A group of 21 teenage students from Alberta, Canada, were "a bit shaken up," Tofield School Vice principal Clayton Roe said by telephone. "But they're OK."

On Santorini, tourists watched the rescue from the clifftops of the volcanic island, looking down on the cruise ship stranded in a deep lagoon.

Hundreds of people were on the deck of the ship waiting to be evacuated.

Giorgos Stathopoulos, spokesman for Louis Cruise Lines, a Cyprus-based tourism group that operates the Sea Diamond, said the ship had taken on water and listed 12 degrees. But it was stabilized when watertight doors were activated.

Passengers were taken by a small ferry and small boats to the island's main port.

Authorities said tugboats had been used to pull the ship free of rocks, helped by moderate prevailing winds.

Tourism Minister Fani Palli Petralia said the rescued passengers would be housed in Santorini hotels and return on chartered ships to Athens' main port of Piraeus early Friday.

"We are very happy with the outcome of the rescue operation. ... This is the start of an important tourism season with strong cruise bookings, especially from the United States," she said.

The 469-foot Sea Diamond vessel was built in 1986 and refurbished in 1999.
Love this kid: He called ... and he said 'This ship is taking on water and we're going down.' I said, 'Don't play with me.' He said, 'I have a life vest on.'" Well, I guess I'd want my teenager to call me, let me know that they were sinking but had a PFD on.

459 related stories here Still haven't found any word on who was at the helm, if drug tests were ordered, if they remembered the charts? I don't think those reefs move often and the ships visit there frequently.

Enjoy your trips, but keep your PDFs handy. Others laugh, but I often wear a horse collar on dive boats.
 
Update - father & daughter missing after their cabin filled with water. Ship is listing further today...
Two Tourists Missing After Cruise Ship Sinks
By DEREK GATOPOULOS, AP

ATHENS, Greece (April 6) - A Greek cruise ship that struck a volcanic reef and forced the evacuation of hundreds of tourists sank on Friday, 15 hours after it began taking on water off the coast of a Mediterranean island. A Frenchman and his daughter were missing, officials said.

Passengers on Thursday climbed down rope ladders to coast guard boats below in a three-hour rescue that involved Greece's military, commercial ships and local fishermen from the island of Santorini. Passengers on the cruise were mostly American, and also included groups from Canada and Spain.

Authorities said two French passengers -- a 45-year-old man and his 16-year-old daughter -- had still not been accounted for, and lists of rescued passengers were being rechecked.

Tourism Minister Fanny Palli Petralia said she had spoken with the missing passenger's wife.

"The lady said her cabin filled with water when the ship struck rocks and that she narrowly escaped," Petralia said. "She was not sure whether her husband and daughter made it out because things happened so suddenly ... in a few seconds. Her other child was up on deck and was evacuated safely."

Those rescued said most people remained calm though there were some tense moments.

The Sea Diamond struck rocks in the sea-filled crater formed by a volcanic eruption 3,500 years ago. Tourists gathered on clifftop towns and villages to watch the rescue.

"We realized there was a serious problem ... We exited our cabin and it was tough to be able to walk out of the ship. A lot of people were very emotional over it, upset, very frightened," said Stephen Johnson, a Canadian passenger.

An Australian passenger, Katie Sumner, said the early stages of the rescue were chaotic.

"We heard a big shudder and then the whole boat started to tilt," Sumner said.

"All of our glasses were sliding everywhere and our warning that the ship was sinking was some of the staff running down the corridor screaming out 'life jackets' and banging on doors, so we got no time to, sort of, get ready or anything, we just left as we were."

The 469-foot Sea Diamond was operated by Louis Cruise Lines, part of a Cyprus-based tourism group. The Merchant Marine Ministry said 1,195 passengers and 391 crew members were on board.

"Whoever is responsible for this will be held accountable in the strictest way," Petralia said. "Greece is a major tourism destination and incidents like this must not be allowed to occur. ... Authorities handled the rescue very well."

Most of the rescued passengers arrived at Athens' main port of Piraeus Friday on a chartered ferry and a Louis cruise ship.

Authorities on Santorini said they were working to contain a small oil spillage from the sunken ship.

The Sea Diamond's captain and three officers were being interviewed Friday by coast guard investigators who flew to Santorini.

More than 300 rescued passengers arrived at Athens' main port of Piraeus early Friday on a chartered ferry, and more were due to arrive later in the day on another Louis cruise ship.
 
She went to the bottom Don,saw that on yahoo video a little while ago.I dont know how deep though.
 
truck1:
She went to the bottom Don,saw that on yahoo video a little while ago.I dont know how deep though.
Yeah, just saw the pic of the bow barely out of the water. Thot they had the sinking under control with water tight doors closed, but guess that failed. Kinda wonder about the sea worthiness of a ship that be listing 12 degree with compartments closed one day, and at the bottom of the bay the next.
MissChelleyDives:
A different incident.......

A Greek Cruise ship sunk yesterday after hitting rocks. Check out this yahoo link....

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070406/ap_on_re_eu/greece_cruise_ship

Please pray for the father and daughter that are missing.
I believe that's the same ship, the Sea Diamond.
 
truck1:
She went to the bottom Don,saw that on yahoo video a little while ago.I dont know how deep though.

I just read a BBC report that said the ship is in about 200M of water.
 
200m? That's quite a drop.

I grabbed this frame from a YouTube video.

2001894492322661783_rs.jpg
 
While there is sad news about the missing farther and daughter, there was a great news interview with an Austrailian woman on the BBC news.

When asked for her comments about the sinking she said "the first we knew was a lound bang and a great shudder, the crew then ran through the ship shouting for everyone to get to the lifeboats, they didnt even give us enough time to pack our things" :confused:

I mean, how unthoughtful of the captian to arrange for the ship to sink quickly, didnt he realise that people were on holiday!
 
When asked for her comments about the sinking she said "the first we knew was a lound bang and a great shudder, the crew then ran through the ship shouting for everyone to get to the lifeboats, they didnt even give us enough time to pack our things"
I think that's SOP, as many would try to salvage their things but a crew of 400 has to get 1600 tourists out of harms way as fast as possible.

The biggest fear to me on in a boat cabin is fire. I used to go on Windjammers' Polynesia before I got hooked on scuba, worried that they had only one ladderway out of the lower cabins until they finally install another at the other end of the hallway.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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