Latest on Missing Passengers from Sunken Cruise Ship

[beachblanket]

The officials said that five divers had been sent to the wreck, now resting on the sea bottom about 600 feet below the surface, to search cabins and corridors of the ship.

600 feet!??! That is far below the depth that divers can go without engaging in full saturation (being first being conditioned in a pressurized vessel at depth, a process which can take weeks). The deepest a "conventional" diver (using surface supplied air and a pressurized suit can go) is about 100 meters (approximately 330 feet).

Either the report of the ship's depth is wrong, or the diving story is a fabrication.

 

[birkner]

one report says they also searched corridors--can't do that from outside the ship. . .

I think the search of the corridors may be conducted by remote undersea probe as quoted in the following:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/04/09/ap/world/main2662611.shtml

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.

 

[beachblanket]

I think the search of the corridors may be conducted by remote undersea probe as quoted in the following:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/04/09/ap/world/main2662611.shtml

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.

Good point. However, I'm now wondering how the "corridors" are all below 300 feet yet the supposed "cabin" is above that level?

Further confusing things is yet another report (link below) which states the following:

"The search for clues over the accident -- and the fate of the two French tourists -- is complicated as the ship has sunk to a depth of 120 metres (400 feet), a French embassy official told AFP."

http://http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=170269

So just how deep is the wreck? Depending on the source, it's anywhere from 300 to 600 feet down. With all due respect, a rowboat carrying a $200 portable sonar unit could determine the depth within 5 yards or so in less time than it took me to type all this!!!

 

[birkner]

Good point. However, I'm now wondering how the "corridors" are all below 300 feet yet the supposed "cabin" is above that level?

Further confusing things is yet another report (link below) which states the following:

"The search for clues over the accident -- and the fate of the two French tourists -- is complicated as the ship has sunk to a depth of 120 metres (400 feet), a French embassy official told AFP."

http://http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=170269

So just how deep is the wreck? Depending on the source, it's anywhere from 300 to 600 feet down. With all due respect, a rowboat with generic sonar could determine the depth within 5 yards or so in less time than it took me to type all this!!!

I think you are absolutely correct. It is just so hard to determine at this point just what the actual facts are. SO many different sources reporting different facts. I guess we will all have to be patient at this point to see what will turn out to be the actual facts in this sinking.

 

[birkner]

What a sad, sad terrible avoidable tragedy!!

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/04/11/greece.ship/index.html?section=cnn_latest

 

[smores]

interesting article--i orginally read that divers smashed the port hole of the french family's cabin in search of their bodies (after it sank). . .but their cabin was forward deck 2 starboard (which according to cnn--starboard side is down--thus port hole was not accessable. . .the plot thickens--amazing to see sooooo many different reports (ie depth--300,320,400 ft etc)

The Greek-flagged Sea Diamond is lying on its starboard side at a depth of about 97 meters (320 feet) in a sea-filled crater created by a volcanic eruption 3,200 years ago, maritime experts said.

 

[birkner]

In the following article it shows a picture of the oceanographic vechile which says:

Nearly 119,000 gallons of oil are still inside the ship, threatening environmental damage at the onset of the busy summer season. The remote-controlled submarine was trying stop the leak.

Efforts were hampered by the ship's unstable position. The 10-story-high vessel is face-down on an undersea slope, with most of the hull more than 325 feet below the surface


http://www.charlotteobserver.com/165/story/81724.html

 

[smores]

once again the reports are different. . .one says it's on the starboard side, the other says "face down"--i would assume that means "upside down". . .i'm confused

 

[birkner]

once again the reports are different. . .one says it's on the starboard side, the other says "face down"--i would assume that means "upside down". . .i'm confused

In the report that read on the International Hearld Tribune, website also says "face down". I too am assuming that the ship is "upside down".

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/04/11/europe/EU-GEN-Greece-Cruise-Ship.php

A remote-controlled submersible continued to search the hull to try to identify the source of the fuel leak, which has already spilled more than 100 tons of oil into the sea near the Athinios port.

The effort was hampered by the ship's unstable position; the 10-story high vessel is face-down on an undersea slope, with most of the hull more than 100 meters (325 feet) below the surface.

Some 400 tons of oil are still inside the ship, threatening environmental damage at the onset of the busy summer season.

 

[Amlee]

While I expect there to be some type of order to something like this, I am by no means going to be totally dependant on a crew member to get me to safety. As a human is a human and as much as they are "prepared" for a sinking event. The crew is still human!

Call me crazy, but I'll always look around and figure out where is the best way out if something happens. Where they closest emergency exit is and how many decks I have to get to to get to a life boat. Nor do they need to expect me to show up with my life jacket on, if I'm in the front of the ship and my life jacket is in my cabin at the back of ship. Or if I'm on deck 9 and my cabin is on deck 2.

 

[disneydance]

This is horrible from what the news said there were people from the town i was born in on it and they were talking about it on the news and said it was terrifying. Hope the 2 passengers get found alive soon

 

[birkner]

Update:

Shipwreck survivor tells of ordeal
Raphael Hermano
Thu, 12 Apr 2007
A French woman whose husband and teenage daughter are still missing after last week's Greek cruise ship accident gave a dramatic account on Wednesday of how they were caught in their cabin when the boat was holed.

Anne Allain, 43, was in a lower-deck cabin with her 45-year-old husband Jean-Christophe and their 16-year-old daughter Maud when the ship hit a reef off the Greek island of Santorini last Thursday. Their son Raphael was up on deck at the time.

The 143-metre Sea Diamond, operated by Cyprus-based Louis Hellenic Cruise Lines, hit the reef half a nautical mile offshore as it was preparing to dock and quickly took on a 12-degree list to starboard.

"At no point did any of us feel a jolt," Allain insisted in a written account sent to AFP. "Then I heard a sound of water, like a leak, and I noticed that water was beginning to come under the cabin door.

"We immediately thought that the pool had overflowed due to the (ship's) list, and we did not worry about taking further measures and closed the door," said Allain, who lives in Doue-la-Fontaine in the northwest of France.

The water level rose so quickly they lifted their things on to the beds, but the beds themselves soon became soaked, and soon it had become impossible for them to open the door.

"Maud said 'Mum, I'm scared'. I decided to call reception to explain the situation. An English-speaking person answered then asked me to wait while they found a French speaker to speak to me."

When they did find someone he told her not to move, because a member of the crew would come immediately.

But as they waited, the water outside the cabin continued to rise, exerting such pressure on the door that it finally burst open: "A huge wave poured into the space where we were," she said.

Allain suddenly found herself swimming under water in the corridor.

"I was very scared because I am not a very good swimmer. I swam underwater for a few metres," she said.

"I instinctively surfaced on the right side of the corridor taking into account the fact that the ship was listing to the left.

"I was able to get my breath back and I turned back towards the cabin but I saw no one following me.

"I didn't feel capable of turning around and, since I knew that Maud and Jean-Christophe were good swimmers, I decided to go up and look for Raphael and call for help," she explained.

Meanwhile, the evacuation of the ship's other 1153 passengers and 391 crew members was under way. A few hours later the boat sank 150-metres to the sea bed. Rescue workers are still searching for Jean-Christophe and Maud Allain, the only passengers still missing.

 

[beachblanket]

Update:

Shipwreck survivor tells of ordeal
Raphael Hermano
Thu, 12 Apr 2007
A French woman whose husband and teenage daughter are still missing after last week's Greek cruise ship accident gave a dramatic account on Wednesday of how they were caught in their cabin when the boat was holed.

Anne Allain, 43, was in a lower-deck cabin with her 45-year-old husband Jean-Christophe and their 16-year-old daughter Maud when the ship hit a reef off the Greek island of Santorini last Thursday. Their son Raphael was up on deck at the time.

The 143-metre Sea Diamond, operated by Cyprus-based Louis Hellenic Cruise Lines, hit the reef half a nautical mile offshore as it was preparing to dock and quickly took on a 12-degree list to starboard.

"At no point did any of us feel a jolt," Allain insisted in a written account sent to AFP. "Then I heard a sound of water, like a leak, and I noticed that water was beginning to come under the cabin door.

"We immediately thought that the pool had overflowed due to the (ship's) list, and we did not worry about taking further measures and closed the door," said Allain, who lives in Doue-la-Fontaine in the northwest of France.

The water level rose so quickly they lifted their things on to the beds, but the beds themselves soon became soaked, and soon it had become impossible for them to open the door.

"Maud said 'Mum, I'm scared'. I decided to call reception to explain the situation. An English-speaking person answered then asked me to wait while they found a French speaker to speak to me."

When they did find someone he told her not to move, because a member of the crew would come immediately.

But as they waited, the water outside the cabin continued to rise, exerting such pressure on the door that it finally burst open: "A huge wave poured into the space where we were," she said.

Allain suddenly found herself swimming under water in the corridor.

"I was very scared because I am not a very good swimmer. I swam underwater for a few metres," she said.

"I instinctively surfaced on the right side of the corridor taking into account the fact that the ship was listing to the left.

"I was able to get my breath back and I turned back towards the cabin but I saw no one following me.

"I didn't feel capable of turning around and, since I knew that Maud and Jean-Christophe were good swimmers, I decided to go up and look for Raphael and call for help," she explained.

Meanwhile, the evacuation of the ship's other 1153 passengers and 391 crew members was under way. A few hours later the boat sank 150-metres to the sea bed. Rescue workers are still searching for Jean-Christophe and Maud Allain, the only passengers still missing.

That was truly heart wrenching to read; I can only imagine the fear that family felt as the cabin was filling with water. Given Allain was apparently swept out of the cabin, I'm now wondering if her husband and daughter also were...but unfortunately didn't have the mother's luck and/or instinct.

Also, given how quickly their cabin filled after the accident, it must have been on one of the lowest decks. From the photo of the Sea Diamond below, you can see that those lower deck cabins had small round portholes (not the larger square window shown in the photo of my prior post). So I don't see how any divers could have entered/searched the cabin through those (if they even got close to the vessel, if the Herald Tribune report quoted in a prior post is correct, the ship is in depths below those that are even diveable).

 

[birkner]

That was truly heart wrenching to read; I can only imagine the fear that family felt as the cabin was filling with water. Given Allain was apparently swept out of the cabin, I'm now wondering if her husband and daughter also were...but unfortunately didn't have the mother's luck and/or instinct.

Also, given how quickly their cabin filled after the accident, it must have been on one of the lowest decks. From the photo of the Sea Diamond below, you can see that those lower deck cabins had small round portholes (not the larger square window shown in the photo of my prior post). So I don't see how any divers could have entered/searched the cabin through those (if they even got close to the vessel, if the Herald Tribune report quoted in a prior post is correct, the ship is in depths below those that are even diveable).

According to all the articles I have read the authorities are using submersibles to search for the passengers. Now the "black box" has been found:
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8OFQ4O80.htm

The Associated Press April 13, 2007, 11:30AM EST text size: TT
Cruise ship 'black box' found
By DEREK GATOPOULOS

ATHENS, Greece

Investigators using a remote-controlled submarine found a sunken Greek cruise ship's data recorder and planned to bring it to the surface Friday, authorities said.

The Merchant Marine Ministry said the recorder could reveal details of the sinking of the Sea Diamond, information they hope to use in the prosecution of crew members.

Two French tourists remain missing from the ship, which struck well-marked rocks April 5 and sank off the main port of the Greek holiday island of Santorini. Nearly 1,600 people were rescued, including hundreds of Americans and groups from Canada, Britain, Australia, France and Spain.

The ministry and the cruise line have blamed the sinking on human error. The ship's captain and five other crew members have been charged with negligence and are expected to testify next week in the ongoing probe.

Costas Thoktaridis, the head diver at the site, told state-run NET television that a location transmitter helped locate the recorder.

Ministry officials said they would try to pluck the recorder from its resting place 280 feet below the surface with one of two remote-controlled submarines.

Most of the sunken hull, which has settled on a slope of a submerged volcanic crater, is more than 325 feet below the surface.

"On the orders of the Coast Guard, only mechanical means will be used to recover the date recorder so that it is delivered to the authorities, and it will not be touched by human hand," a ministry statement said.

NET said divers could be used if that effort fails.

The submersibles, operated by the Hellenic Center for Marine Research, are also being used to try to locate the missing French passengers and to stop a leak that has sent more than 120 tons of fuel -- about a quarter of the total amount -- into the submerged crater.

--------

Associated Press Writer Nicholas Paphitis contributed to this report