More than 200 evacuated from burning Italian ferry

A passenger is helped as he leaves from the " Spirit of Piraeus" cargo container ship as they arrive in Bari harbour, after the car ferry Norman Atlantic caught fire in waters off Greece December 29, 2014.[Photo/Agencies]

ATHENS, Greece - More than 200 passengers and crew remained trapped on a burning ferry and adrift in rough seas between Italy and Albania early Monday after enduring a second night of smoke, frigid temperatures and gale-force winds awaiting evacuation after fire broke out. At least one person died and two were injured in the risky rescue operation.

The Italian navy said 265 of the 478 people on the ferry, sailing from the Greek port of Patras to Ancona in Italy, had been evacuated by early Monday. Most were airlifted by helicopter to other merchant vessels sailing nearby, though a few were flown to hospitals in southern Italy to be treated for hypothermia.

"It will be a very difficult night. A night in which we hope we will be able to rescue all on board," Greek Merchant Marine Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis said in Athens.

He said 10 merchant ships were in the area assisting rescue efforts, and that those who had already taken on dozens of passengers from the stricken ferry would remain in the area until the operation was over. Only then would it be determined where they would go, Varvitsiotis said.

Nevertheless, officials in the Adriatic port of Bari were preparing for the first large group to arrive early Monday _ some 49 people. They were initially expected in Brindisi down the coast, but rough seas forced a change of plans, officials said.

The fire broke out before dawn Sunday on a car deck of the Italian-flagged Norman Atlantic, carrying 422 passengers and 56 crew members. Passengers huddled on the vessel's upper decks, pelted by rain and hail and struggling to breathe through the thick smoke, passengers told Greek media by phone.

"We are outside, we are very cold, the ship is full of smoke," passenger Giorgos Stiliaras told Greek Mega TV.

He recalled people being awakened by "the smell of burning plastic" and that the heat from the fire felt like the floors were "boiling."

Dotty Channing-Williams, mother of ferry passenger Nick Channing-Williams, said she had managed to speak to her son before he and his Greek fiancee were airlifted to safety. In an interview with The Associated Press from her home in Newbury, Britain, she said she had complained to her son that there was no information available for families.

"He said `Well, it's an awful lot worse for us because we're actually standing out here in the pouring rain, and thunder and lightening, and we really just don't know exactly what's going to happen."'

The president of the Brindisi Port Authority, Hercules Haralambides, said the passengers were still out on deck after midnight, but that blankets had been provided by rescue crews from the Brindisi-based St. George navy ship, which was leading the rescue. Medical personnel had also boarded to check on passengers and crew, the navy said.

"We're all concerned for the health of the passengers," he said.

The ferry was last inspected by the Patras Port Authority on Dec. 19 and six "deficiencies" were found, but none were so grave as to keep it in port, according to the report on the European Maritime Safety Agency's website.

The deficiencies involved a "malfunctioning" fire door as well as "missing" emergency lighting and batteries and defective "watertight doors."

The ship manufacturer, Carlo Visentini, was quoted by the ANSA news agency as saying that only one of the 160 fireproof doors was found to be problematic in the inspection and that it was located above the fire zone. Visentini said the problem was fixed immediately to the satisfaction of the inspectors.

Italy and Greece sent navy and coast guard vessels and helicopters to the extensive rescue operation, while nearby merchant ships lined up to form a barrier to protect the ferry from towering waves. As darkness fell, Italian Defense Minister Roberta Pinotti said rescue operations would continue through the night.

The Italian Coast Guard, which was coordinating the rescue operation, said those flames visible from the outside of the ship had been extinguished by about 8:30 pm (1930 GMT), about 16 hours after the blaze began. But the ferry was still enveloped in dense smoke, which the Coast Guard probably said was being fueled by some hotspots inside the ship.

Varvitsiotis described the efforts as "one of the most complex search and rescue operations we have dealt with in recent years."