That Greek ship sank!!

[SheriNtexas]

I just read that that cruise ship sank!! :eek:

[shebring02lx]

Thats crazy!!

I hope everyone was off the ship when it happened!!!

[EmmaJean]

Wow! I just read that 2 people are missing-a father & daughter.

[Mark]

That is why I choose to only sail with the Italians and Norwegians...they appear to be much more professional and skilled at handling large ships than the Greeks!

[Tinkerbell647]

WELL I TAKE BACK WHAT I SAID. LOL

 

thanks for the article FLOATN!!!

[floatn]

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 this 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 the island's local fishermen. 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.

The Sea Diamond was built in 1986 and refurbished in 1999.

[CPT Trips]

That is why I choose to only sail with the Italians and Norwegians...they appear to be much more professional and skilled at handling large ships than the Greeks!

 

Not gonna touch that with a 1.75 meter Pole.

[pg.]

Well accidents do happen, but how awful that two people are missing, I hope they just were missed on role call.

I know this will sound awful( considering two people still missing) , but , at least the passengers got an extra days on Santorini, couldn't have happened in a better place to be stuck( its very scenic).

[Aquahound]

That is why I choose to only sail with the Italians and Norwegians...they appear to be much more professional and skilled at handling large ships than the Greeks!

 

What was the nationality of the Captain when the Monarch Of The Seas grounded in the Caribbean? :rolleyes:

[Mark]

I think it was some Greek guy that was on loan to RCCL from Celebrity..only kidding.

 

But serioulsy...accidents will always happen at sometime regardless of who the captain is or where he is from..all the captain can do is try to minimize the number and impact of the mistakes and have him and his crew respond in an effficient and professional manner to correct them. This last part is very important...to have the captain and his crew respond in an efficient and professional manner to insure the safety of the passengers, minimize the damage and hopefully save the ship.

 

Back in the ealry 90's...cannot remember the exact year althought it was the same year that Florida had a devastating hurricane, I was a passenger on the NCL Seaward...yes Seaward and not the Norwegian Sea and it was several days before the hurricane hit Florida...we had a terrible and very damaging fire that broke out in the laundry facility due to a dirty vent...the fire spread next door to the photographer's lab where film was developed...well between the film, chemicals, sheets, towels etc the fire was real bad...they had reached the level before they would lower the boats for us. Needless to say, the Norwegian Captain and his Norwegian Staff along with the multinational crew did an outstanding job of putting the fire out and handling the passengers in preparation for evacuation that was not required. The fire was so bad that Seaward would have no laundry facilities for several months until she went into dry dock and had a piece of bulkhead removed for replacement of such...all dirty laundry and clean laundry had to be exchanged at each port.

 

The captain and his crew performed in an outstanding and professional manner and I commend them. I was so impressed with how the situation was handled that I sailed on Norwegian many times after my "fire cruise".

 

However, I have not sailed on Norwegian since they were purchased by Star Cruises and have no way of knowing if the new NCL has the same standards and professionalism as the old NCL. I would hope they do but do not know how much influence there is from Malaysia HQ?

[Tannersgramp]

That is why I choose to only sail with the Italians and Norwegians...they appear to be much more professional and skilled at handling large ships than the Greeks!

 

I only sail with the Irish........At least they let you bring booze on :D

[rnlmigacz]

Unbelievable! My daugter told me about it, and I thought she was just joking. I can see now she wasn't.

[Mark]

Yes sad, scary and depressing! I wonder why such a fairly new ship did not have watertight doors to stop the flooding and save the ship? I thought all ships had watertight doors? So the question becomes does this ship have them and if yes, why were they not activated and if activated, why did they fail??? Sounds to me like someone is in BIG TROUBLE! These ships and pending lawsuits are not cheap!!!

[LHT28]

Yes sad, scary and depressing! I wonder why such a fairly new ship did not have watertight doors to stop the flooding and save the ship?

 

I guess "fairly new" is a personal opinion

The ship was 20 years old but refurbished in 1999 .....to me "fairly new" is less than 5 yrs .

[Mark]

Fairly new...I mean that a ship would have been equipped with fireproof and waterproof doors that seal of sections of the ship to save the ship...as well as other safety equipment. All such doors can be operated locally or centrally from a master control panel on the bridge of a ship.

 

I also meant that this ship was a lot newer than many other ships sailing the seas with passengers throughout the world today. Hey it is newer than the QE2!

[LHT28]

I also meant that this ship was a lot newer than many other ships sailing the seas with passengers throughout the world today. Hey it is newer than the QE2!

 

True but the QE2 is probably maintained regularly ;)

[EggDropErin]

Here is video:

WOW! What a sight! Scary...

 

 

Wow! I really hope that those two people weren't on the ship. :(

[falcon5travels]

The ship was equipped with fire doors, hence why it is believed the 2 people are missing. It is suggested the water was rushing into the cabin, they ran out, wife first, then daughter and father. The fire doors are beleived to have closed after the wife but before daughter and father made it down the hall. How horrific!

 

AND the passengers did not get an extra day in Santorini, they boarded the Perla at approximately 3:00 a.m. greece time and traveled to Athens, with nothing but the clothes on their back, some wet, some without shoes.

[Travelight]

This really makes me want to take the lifeboat drill very seriously - know my exits, etc.

[alwzrgt]

The link to the video....

under the video says the pax went missing after evac.

 

Let's pray that is accurate

[RichardK]

That is why I choose to only sail with the Italians and Norwegians...

 

I'm not so sure about that. History will tell you that when the Andrea Doria sank many of the Italian Crew Members filled up the lifeboats before the passengers had a chance to.

[CruiserNic]

The ship was equipped with fire doors, hence why it is believed the 2 people are missing. It is suggested the water was rushing into the cabin, they ran out, wife first, then daughter and father. The fire doors are beleived to have closed after the wife but before daughter and father made it down the hall. How horrific!

 

AND the passengers did not get an extra day in Santorini, they boarded the Perla at approximately 3:00 a.m. greece time and traveled to Athens, with nothing but the clothes on their back, some wet, some without shoes.

 

So I assume you have spoken to your daughter again. I hope she is doing OK. I can't imagine what those passengers must be feeling right now.

[nybumpkin]

I'm not so sure about that. History will tell you that when the Andrea Doria sank many of the Italian Crew Members filled up the lifeboats before the passengers had a chance to.

And your historical source for this statement is...?:confused:

[Lvs2Cruise2]

I think the other poster means this ship when the crew bolted and left all of the passengers on the sinking ship!! SCARY!!

[nybumpkin]

I think the other poster means this ship when the crew bolted and left all of the passengers on the sinking ship!! SCARY!!

That's the Oceanos, which sank off South Africa in 1991. The captain insisted he was going to direct the rescue operations from a helicopter, hence his quick departure. Not even remotely related to the Andrea Doria.