The burning Euroferry Olympia approached Port Astakos (Aetolia-Acarnania, West Greece) where the search is due to continue for the 10 missing passengers.
The decision to tow the cruiseferry, which has been on fire since last Friday, February 18, was made yesterday as the Greek Fire Brigade announced that the operational search and rescue capabilities had been exhausted at its location off Corfu Island (Kerkyra, Greece).
Firefighters and rescue teams are now in place to continue the search for the 10 missing truck drivers who were trapped inside the ship. The relatives of the missing expressed their concern, asking for intensive investigations, which were stopped for 24 hours until the vessel was towed.
One of the lawyers for the family of a missing truck driver questioned the decision to transfer Euroferry Olympia to Astakos port, saying there was no logical explanation for it. He pointed out it was unthinkable not to go to Corfu and wait 15-17 hours to go to Astakos.
According to sources, citing the Ministry of Shipping, the transfer to the specific point had been due to toxicity, as experts had advised it should not be close to an urban area because there was still smoke on the ferry. The ministry had said it would move the families of those missing to Astakos in order to assist with the ongoing investigation.
The fire on the Italian-flagged Euroferry Olympia broke out on February 18 as the ship was sailing from Igoumenitsa (Greece) to Brindisi (Italy).
The accident already claimed one life.