Ferry fire strands hundreds
At least one person died as the rescue effort began in the waters between Italy and Albania.
ATHENS, Greece - Hundreds of passengers and crew braved smokey fire, frigid temperatures, and gale-force winds Sunday as they waited for nearly a day to be evacuated from a burning ferry adrift in rough seas between Italy and Albania. At least one person died and two were injured in the risky rescue operation.
The Italian navy said 190 of the 478 people on the ferry, sailing from the Greek port of Patras to Ancona in Italy, had been evacuated by Sunday night. Most were airlifted by helicopter to 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 that 10 merchant ships were in the area assisting rescue efforts, and that those that 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 Brindisi were preparing for the first large group to arrive - 49 people, expected sometime after midnight, the coast guard 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 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."
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 about 16 hours after the blaze began. But the ferry was still enveloped in dense smoke, which the coast guard said was likely being fueled by hotspots inside the ship.
Of those on board, 234 passengers and 34 crew are Greek, said Greek Merchant Marine spokesman Nikos Lagadianos. Other passengers are from Turkey, Albania, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, and France.