Fire on board the ro-pax ship Euroferry Olympia

Tonight on the group's Euroferry Olympia ferry Italian shipowner Grimaldi, which is operated by Grimaldi Euromed and departed at 1.20 am from the Greek port of Igoumenitsa headed to Brindisi, a fire broke out while sailing in the Ionian Sea north of Corfu, about nine miles from the coast. At the time of the accident on the ship, which has a rolling stock carrying capacity of 3,200 linear meters and 570 passengers, there were 239 passengers and 51 crew members, including 64 persons of nationality Italian. and the ship is currently adrift in Albanian waters.

The Italian Coast Guard has announced that on the orders of the master of the ship the people on board have abandoned the ferries embarking on the on-board lifeboats. The Italian Guardia di Finanza announced that 243 people were rescued by their soldiers of the multi-role patrol boat Monte Sperone which, for rescue activities, has also used the two inflatable boats on board the unit of the Body. The Guardia di Finanza has specified that the fire it appears to have started from the hold for reasons still to be ascertained.

The general command of the Italian Coast Guard, in provision of a second phase related to the prevention of marine pollution, has arranged for the sending of its own vehicles to the area air and naval aircraft that will reach those of the Greek Coast Guard already present at the scene of the accident. An ATR42 aircraft of the Coast Guard in environmental trim is flying over in these hours the area to ensure every possible form of support to the counterparts foreign authorities. The Italian Coast Guard has announced in addition, that it has requested EMSA, the European Agency for the maritime security, a support for image acquisition satellite to deepen any aspects of character environmental.

The shipping company Grimaldi has specified that at 4.12 local time the master of the ship contacted the headquarters general of the group informing that the fire would manifest itself to garage number 3 and that the crew of the ship is immediately intervened to tame the fire with the means on board while the commander and staff of the group, through the "emergency" response team", they promptly notified the incident to the competent national and Greek authorities, and taken all the measures necessary to manage the incident in the best possible way. Grimaldi confirmed that, for the safety of those on board, the master decided to abandon the ship.

The shipping company also announced that the ship transports 153 commercial vehicles, including trucks and semi-trailers, as well as 32 vehicles accompanying passengers and not spilled of fuel at sea nor would it seem compromised the stability of the vessel.

The Grimaldi Group, expressing its regret for the incident, he specified that he will give full cooperation to the competent authorities to shed light on what happened.