THE DATA recorder of the Louis Cruise Line ship that sank off the coast of Santorini was located yesterday by investigators, while efforts are under way to recover it.
The recorder, or “black box”, could hold crucial information for authorities that are looking into why the 142-metre Sea Diamond hit a well-mapped out reef just a few minutes from entering the main port of the popular tourist island of Santorini.
The recorder was located on the bridge of the sunken vessel using a remote-controlled undersea probe, while two submarine robots will try to retrieve it, a Merchant Marine ministry official told Reuters.
Efforts to locate the recorder and search for the two missing passengers were called off on Thursday due to bad weather.
Some 1,600 passengers, most of them American tourists were rescued after a three-hour evacuation operation, but a French tourist and his daughter are still missing and feared drowned after the ship sank more than a week ago.
Greek authorities attributed the incident to human error while a Greek prosecutor charged the captain and six other crew members with negligence. If found guilty, the crew could face a suspended prison sentence.
“The incident was a result of human error, but so are 75 per cent of all accidents at sea,” said Giorgos Koubenis, a representative of Louis Cruise Lines.
Authorities have been busy dealing with an oil slick caused from the sinking of the cruiser and it is reported that some 110 tonnes of fuel and diesel – about a quarter of the total amount aboard the vessel – have leaked into the island’s sea-filled volcanic crater where the Sea Diamond began listing last Thursday afternoon.
Greek Merchant Marine Minister Manolis Kefaloyiannis said that the environmental situation was “under control”.
Louis Cruise Lines said on Wednesday that the vessel was fully insured and the sinking would have no impact on the company’s profits. The company also released a statement saying that there all safety guarantees for the ship were in place.
The vessel was constructed in Finland more than two decades ago, and was significantly renovated in 1999. It sailed three, four, and seven-day cruises of the Greek islands.
