ATHENS, April 8 - The captain of a cruise ship that slammed into a volcanic
reef before sinking off the Aegean island of Santorini blamed strong sea
currents for the accident, Greece's state-run television said Sunday.

The 1,156 passengers, most of them Americans, and the 391 crew members were
forced to evacuate the listing liner, which sank 15 hours after the accident
on Thursday. A pair of French tourists have been missing since then.

"I felt the ship, which had been on a normal course, slip to the right
because of the sea currents," state-run NET television quoted the captain as
saying in the deposition during a long session before a public prosecutor.
"I gave the order for a full turn left. But there was not enough time for
the ship to respond." The captain's name has not been released, and the
television station did not explain how it obtained the deposition comments.

On Saturday, the captain and five other officers of the 489-foot-long Sea
Diamond were indicted on charges of causing a shipwreck through negligence,
breaching international shipping safety regulations and polluting the
environment.

All were released pending further investigation, but judicial officials said
their indictments would eventually encompass charges relating to the
disappearance of the two French passengers, a 45-year-old father and his
teenage daughter, who are presumed dead.

If convicted, the officers each face a maximum five-year sentence.

The Greek-flagged cruise ship rammed a well-marked and charted reef in fair
weather on Thursday, inside Santorini's sea-filled crater.

Louis Cruise Lines, the Cypriot firm that runs the ship, insisted that the
Sea Diamond was equipped with all the latest navigation technology.

While all other passengers were retrieved safely, several tourists
complained of insufficient supplies of life vests, little guidance from crew
members and a delayed, four-hour evacuation process that forced some
passengers to climb down rope ladders.

Greek authorities have vowed to come down hard on those found accountable.

"Greece is a major tourist destination, and incidents like these must not be
allowed to occur," said Tourism Minister Fanny Palli Petralia.