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Report: Cruise Ship Captain Blames Sea Currents for Sinking
Sunday, April 08, 2007
ATHENS, Greece - A cruise ship captain indicted on negligence charges after
his vessel sank in the Aegean Sea blamed strong currents for the accident,
state-run television reported Sunday.
Two French tourists have been missing since Thursday when the ship struck
rocks and eventually sank off the island of Santorini. All the other people
on board - 1,154 passengers and 391 crew, according to operator Louis Cruise
Lines - were rescued.
State-run NET television quoted from what it said were excerpts of his
deposition to a public prosecutor on the island of Naxos, blaming currents
off the volcanic island for the accident.
"I felt the ship, which had been on a normal course, slip to the right
because of sea currents," NET quoted him as saying. "I gave the order for a
full turn left. But there was not enough time for the ship to respond."
The captain was indicted along with five other crew members on blanket
charges of causing a shipwreck through negligence, breaching international
shipping safety regulations and polluting the environment, the Cyclade
islands public prosecution office said. All have been released pending
further testimony.
Most of the ship's passengers were American, but also included groups from
Canada, Spain, France, Australia, and The Dominican Republic.
The missing passengers were identified as Frenchman Jean-Christophe Allain,
45, and his 16-year-old daughter, Maud.
Efforts to search the vessel for them were set to resume Tuesday, with the
help of a remote controlled undersea probe which will be used to examine the
vessel more than 300 feet underwater.
Report: Cruise Ship Captain Blames Sea Currents for Sinking
Sunday, April 08, 2007
ATHENS, Greece - A cruise ship captain indicted on negligence charges after
his vessel sank in the Aegean Sea blamed strong currents for the accident,
state-run television reported Sunday.
Two French tourists have been missing since Thursday when the ship struck
rocks and eventually sank off the island of Santorini. All the other people
on board - 1,154 passengers and 391 crew, according to operator Louis Cruise
Lines - were rescued.
State-run NET television quoted from what it said were excerpts of his
deposition to a public prosecutor on the island of Naxos, blaming currents
off the volcanic island for the accident.
"I felt the ship, which had been on a normal course, slip to the right
because of sea currents," NET quoted him as saying. "I gave the order for a
full turn left. But there was not enough time for the ship to respond."
The captain was indicted along with five other crew members on blanket
charges of causing a shipwreck through negligence, breaching international
shipping safety regulations and polluting the environment, the Cyclade
islands public prosecution office said. All have been released pending
further testimony.
Most of the ship's passengers were American, but also included groups from
Canada, Spain, France, Australia, and The Dominican Republic.
The missing passengers were identified as Frenchman Jean-Christophe Allain,
45, and his 16-year-old daughter, Maud.
Efforts to search the vessel for them were set to resume Tuesday, with the
help of a remote controlled undersea probe which will be used to examine the
vessel more than 300 feet underwater.