Damages for Samina shipwreck
The owners of the ill-fated Samina ferry, as well as the ship’s two senior officers, must pay a total of 9.39 million euros to the family of one of the 80 people drowned when the ship sank in the Cyclades over two years ago, according to a court ruling made public yesterday. The same Piraeus court also awarded 440,205 euros in damages to one of the survivors, Chryssavgi Kouvdou, 22, who had been traveling from Piraeus to her native Icaria when the Samina hit a rock and sank off Paros on September 26, 2000. Kouvdou told the court crew members had refused to help her find a lifejacket or explain how to use it. The damages will be paid in equal parts by Captain Vassilis Yiannakis, First Mate Anastassios Psychogios and Constantinos Klironomos, who at the time of the sinking chaired the board of shipowners Minoan Flying Dolphins – since then renamed Hellas Flying Dolphins. The court also awarded a total 9.39 million to 12 relatives of Lemonia Karayiannaki, who died in the shipwreck. Yiannakis and Psychogios were detained pending trial for nearly 18 months after the accident.
