Greece: Ferry ordered evacuated after fire

[Lite Beer]

Greece: Ferry ordered evacuated after fire

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A fire broke out on the car deck of a ferry carrying 466 people from Greece to Italy early Sunday, forcing authorities to order an evacuation.

Nearby ships have been instructed to take passengers and crew members from the ferry Norman Atlantic, west of the island of Corfu, said Merchant Marine Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis.

There have been no reports of injuries. The ship was traveling from the Greek port of Patras to Ancona, Italy.

Varvitiotis said 35 passengers had been transported in a life boat to a nearby Greek ferry so far, adding that the rescue effort had been hampered by gale-force winds.

"This is a complicated rescue mission ... The visibility is poor and the weather conditionas are difficult, but we are confident because there are a good number of ships in the area," Varvitsiotis said.

-- (c) Associated Press 2014-12-28

[Lite Beer]

Rescuers try to evacuate hundreds from burning Italian ferry

ATHENS (AFP) - A rescue operation is under way in high winds in Greek waters for an Italian ferry carrying 466 people that has caught fire, Greek officials said early Sunday.

Vessels close to the stricken "Norman Atlantic", located 33 nautical miles off the small Greek island of Othonoi, rushed to give assistance after picking up its distress signal, the Greek coast guard said.

Around 55 passengers have been transferred to one ship, while 150 others were in a lifeboat.

Seven vessels were next to the ferry to take passengers on board. Two Greek firefighting ships were on their way, while Italian and Greek aircraft circled overhead.

The fire was said to have broken out in the ferry’s parking bay, which can hold some 200 vehicles. Greek television network Mega said there were tankers holding olive oil in the bay.

Greek Defence Minister Nikos Dendias told the channel that Italian authorities had responded to a Greek plea for assistance and had now taken charge of the rescue operation.

"Our shoes were melting while we were in the reception area," one passenger told Mega.

The "Norman Atlantic" had left the Greek port of Patras at 05:30am (0330 GMT) with 411 passengers and 55 crew on board and had been heading to the Italian port of Ancona when the fire took hold.

The evacuation of the ferry was occurring in difficult conditions, with passengers saying gale-force winds were lashing the vessel.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/Rescuers-try-to-evacuate-hundreds-from-burning-Ita-30250842.html

-- The Nation 2014-12-28

[Costas2008]

Hope everybody comes out safe and we have no fatalities.

We don't need 2 tragedies on the same day.

[tingtongfarang]

I been on this crossing literally hundreds of times also often in bad weather, it can get heavy but the most chaos happens when loading and unloading.

[Morch]

Hope everybody comes out safe and we have no fatalities.

We don't need 2 tragedies on the same day.

Make it three....

Six feared dead after merchant ships collide off Italy

(Reuters) - Two people drowned and four were missing at sea and feared dead after two merchant ships collided in rough seas off the Italian coast on Sunday, Italian officials said.

A Turkish ship with 11 crew members sank after the collision with a vessel carrying a Belize flag in poor visibility a mile from the Italian Adriatic port of Ravenna, a coastguard official said.

The mayor of Ravenna Fabrizio Matteucci said on Italian state television that the dead and missing were all Turkish men from the ship Gokbel which sank after the collision with the Belize-flagged Lady Aziza at around 0800 GMT.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/28/us-shipwreck-turkey-idUSKBN0K60A720141228