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.

"claus" wrote in message
. ..
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.


That must have been one hell of a current. Came from nowhere, strong enough
to push the ship onto the reef despite the captain's heroic efforts to fight
it, then vanished. Sure hope I never run into it.

On Mon, 9 Apr 2007 10:12:15 -0500, "KLC Lewis"
wrote:

That must have been one hell of a current. Came from nowhere, strong enough
to push the ship onto the reef despite the captain's heroic efforts to fight
it, then vanished. Sure hope I never run into it.

==================

:-)

If I should ever be fortunate enough to go boating at Santorini, I'll
be sure to watch out for it, assuming that the scantily clad young
ladies on the beach do not distract me too much...

Sorry, I don't get the drift of this set.

In article ,
Gogarty wrote:

I would like to know more about the underwater topography there. I understand
the ship is resting on a ledge a couple of hundred feet down but is in danger
of slipping off and falling into the abyss. How deep is that?

It's in the med for cryinoutload, not the Mariana Trench. According to
my atlas (I don't have Mediterranean charts) it's about 600 feet.

Justin C wrote:

In article ,
Gogarty wrote:

I would like to know more about the underwater topography there. I understand
the ship is resting on a ledge a couple of hundred feet down but is in danger
of slipping off and falling into the abyss. How deep is that?


It's in the med for cryinoutload, not the Mariana Trench. According to
my atlas (I don't have Mediterranean charts) it's about 600 feet.

Its hard to believe that they let her sink after
she was afloat for more than 16 hours after
hitting the reef. That is enough time to
helicopter in a _bunch_ of pumps, and get some
underwater welders going.

It's also seems strange that someone wouldn't
raise her from these paltry depths. A salvage
operation would only need to put a habitat and
crew of saturation divers down there to weld up
the gash in the hull. After that, it would just
be a matter of pumping down enough air to bring
her back to the surface. At 600 ft, the needed
pressure would only be 280 PSI.

Of course, she's going to be a real mess now after
hitting the bottom a glancing blow. Also, when
she came back to the surface she'd probably be
upside down--a minor engineering challenge.

I wonder what that ship is worth?

Don W.

"Justin C" wrote in message
news:justin.0704-AA3842.02001810042007@stigmata...
In article ,
Gogarty wrote:

I would like to know more about the underwater topography there. I
understand
the ship is resting on a ledge a couple of hundred feet down but is in
danger
of slipping off and falling into the abyss. How deep is that?

It's in the med for cryinoutload, not the Mariana Trench. According to
my atlas (I don't have Mediterranean charts) it's about 600 feet.

She was unloaded in an area with about 20m of water, then after capsizing
slid down the 30 degree slope to an area about 40m deep which is regularly
used by cruise boats. The depths keep going down to 300m with occasional
ledges, before rising again to a couple of volcanic islands (cones), which
from time to time grow a little. It's an appalling anchorage - all rock and
lumps - and the only reason the cruise ships can stay there safely is
becuase there's hardly any current in the enclosed area - also, it's well
sheltered from the regular winds. Many don't bother to anchor.

Don't know where she hit the rocks, but the classic place is when taking a
short cut through the shallower southern entrance to the crater (20m).

It'll be interesting if he bumped into a newly growing volcanic cone . . .

JimB, Compares the Cruise areas of Europe, with lots of detail on Greece
www.jimbaerselman.f2s.com/