Greece to italy ferry on fire

(Reuters) - Rescue teams on Monday completed the evacuation of 427 people from a car ferry that caught fire off http://uk.reuters.com/places/greece's Adriatic coast, working through the night and defying high seas and freezing weather in a 36-hour drama.
Eight people were killed in the incident and many others could be missing, prompting Italian authorities to continue an air search of the sea around the vessel while they sought to verify the number of passengers who had been on board.

The Italian captain, Argilio Giacomazzi, abandoned the ship once all others had been evacuated, Italian Transport Minister Maurizio Lupi said.
Fifty-six crew members were evacuated, while 234 of those rescued were Greek, 54 Turkish, 22 Albanians and 22 Italians, Lupi said.
He would not confirm a report from Greece that there were 38 still missing.
"It's absolutely premature" to say how many are missing, Lupi said.
Some of those rescued were not on the original ship's manifest, and Italian authorities are looking for a definitive list of passengers to cross-check it with the names of the survivors, he said, adding that it was possible that there were illegal migrants aboard.
 
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The victims count is probably not over. They have recovered 8 bodies so far, but the problem is some of the names of a few people that were rescued do not appear on the passenger list.

There is some talk of the possibility that drivers of lorry's might have decided to rest /sleep over in their cabs and also camper vans just might have had someone sleeping over inside them.
Bloody disaster if any lorry's or vans had occupants inside when and if ditched, poss why the alleged manifest does not yet tie up with the bodies found /located.
 
This is why I always feel uneasy in a ship like a ferry, or an airliner; in my little boat, or a light aircraft, I have the chance of getting the thing home safely if the captain conks out or something; I've had this happen in an aircraft, also spent 4 hours drifting up & down the Channel on a ferry with engine failure, so I'll take my dubious chances under my own steam ta very much !
 
Interesting to see that they opened the loading ramp. Wonder if some vehicles ended up in the drink in an effort to get to the fire.

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I doubt it would have been an attempt to ditch vehicles.

Not knowing anything about this particular vessel other than age 2009 relatively new.
Presume it has a fully enclosed car deck which is where fire started. I saw from pictures upper car deck open and burnt out vehicles.

Most likely to have been opened to ventilate the vehicle deck after fire out to allow entry and inspection.

Enclosed Ro Ro car decks usually have a fixed drencher or deluge system. with a dedicated pump. usually its a dry system with sections, the pump starting automatically when a section valve is opened.
The volume of water is very significant.

The drencher system can over whelm the ships scupper system causing a build up of water on the vehicle deck leading to free surface effect and stability issues.
A very high risk possibility is to open a stern door to allow excess water to go overboard not something you would be inclined to do during a storm
 
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Norman Atlantic: Rescued driver says drivers were “allowed” to sleep in their trucks http://www.keeptalkinggreece.com/20...rivers-were-allowed-to-sleep-in-their-trucks/

Confirmed deaths now 13 and 20 - 40 missing. It's not yet known for sure how many were on board as some passengers disembarked at Igoumenitsa.

It is not allowed to sleep in the garage of these winter ferries. In the summer some ferries have an open 'camping deck' with toilet and showers. Lorries and campervans can use that (we've done it) but not on these winter ferries.

It doesn't surprise me to learn that the rules were bent. Both Greeks and Italians are pretty flexible about rules.

At least 3 people rescued were illegal migrants who had stowed away. I'm not surprised about the stowaways either although the Greek customs do search lorries and campers pretty thoroughly at Patras these days. We had to wait while the van in front of us was being searched last time we sailed a few weeks ago ... But I noticed they didn't go up on the roof and someone could have hidden there as there was stuff lashed onto it.
 
Done the trip from Igounomitsa a few times, have yet to see a lorry inspected at boarding time. Igou harbour there is zero security for foot pax entering and leaving the port and the Albanian border is a short tip north of there. Have had our vehicle inspected and have seen lorries inspected on disembarkation at both Ancona and Venice.

And yes winter 'camping on board' is a regular occurrence. I slept in my panel van on boxing day last year. ( Had all the boat bedding and mattresses in the van so it was toasty! ) The trip out in May ( pre summer official 'camping' season ) I got a 50 Euro upgrade to a private cabin out of Ancona but before that I was going to be allowed to 'camp'
 

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