Airlift begins for hundreds trapped on

burning Italian ferry

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BY RENEE MALTEZOU-Sun Dec 28, 2014

(Reuters) - Air crews began lifting passengers off a burning ferry adrift in the Adriatic

Sea on Sunday, racing to rescue as many of the hundreds trapped on board as possible
before nightfall as storms hampered seaborne operations.

Helicopters were taking

passengers off the Italian-flagged Norman Atlantic in pairs and transferring them to a
nearby vessel, officials said.
There were no confirmed reports of casualties and differing accounts of how many
people had been rescued from the ferry, which was carrying almost 500 passengers
and crew when it sent a distress signal early on Sunday after fire broke out on its lower
deck.
Greek authorities said 131 people were clear of the danger zone while an official said
150 had managed to get off the ship aboard a rescue boat.
Each air transfer was taking around 15 minutes per helicopter, according to a Greek
defence ministry official. Another official said two Italian and two Greek helicopters
were involved in the rescue.
Coastguard spokesman Nikos Lagkadianos said the heavy rain that was hampering the
rescue had helped contain the fire although the ship was still burning. Two tugboats
were present, one of which had managed to approach the ship to try to extinguish the
blaze.
Greek Shipping Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis said the very bad weather, with winds of
up to 55 miles (88 kilometres) per hour earlier, made the operation extremely difficult.
"We are doing everything we can to save those on board and no one, no one will be left
helpless in this tough situation," he told reporters. "It is one of the most complicated

rescue operations that we have ever done."

Coastguard officials said the Norman Atlantic, which was also carrying more than 200
vehicles, was 44 nautical miles northwest of the island of Corfu when it radioed for
help. It was travelling from Patras in western Greece to the Italian city of Ancona.
Lagkadianos said 56 people had been successfully transferred from the rescue boat, on
which 150 people had escaped to the container ship Spirit of Piraeus.
INTERNATIONAL RESCUE EFFORT
Command of the operation was transferred to Italy after the ship drifted out of Greek
waters but officials were coordinating closely and an Albanian coastguard vessel was
also taking part.
A coastguard official said nearby passenger and container ships had attempted to form
a ring around the burning vessel to try to form a windbreak to allow small rescue boats
to approach, but the rough seas made the manoeuvre difficult.
Officials said there were 478 passengers and crew on the Norman Atlantic, of whom
268 were Greek, while a foreign ministry official said there were also passengers from
countries including Germany, Italy, Austria, Turkey, France and the Netherlands.
Many appeared to be truck drivers.
The fire broke out in the lower deck garage of the vessel but there were differing
accounts of when it started. Initial reports said the fire began at around 6.00 a.m. local
time (0400 GMT) but Italian officials put the time at 4.30 a.m.
The Norman Atlantic is a 26,900-tonne, roll-on roll-off ferry chartered by Greek ferry
company ANEK. According to marine traffic data, it was built in 2009 and previously
operated in Italy. ANEK said in a statement it was cooperating with rescue authorities.
Posted by Thavam