Sea Diamond crew members face Piraeus appeals court
Three crew members of the fated Sea Diamond cruise liner, which sank off the island of Santorini in 2007, causing the death of two people, faced a Piraeus appeals court on Tuesday after the Supreme Court partially upheld their appeals against their conviction on charges of negligence.
The captain, commander and another senior member of the Sea Diamond crew were present in the courtroom as expert witnesses gave their opinions on why the cruise liner ran aground in April 2007, claiming that the collision was due to charting mistakes and not human error.
In its ruling, the criminal section of the Supreme Court had questioned a previous decision by the appeals court according to which the collision had caused serious environmental pollution, referring to expert reports indicating that the local marine ecosystem had not suffered serious ecological damage.
Nearly eight years after the accident, the Sea Diamond’s hulk has not been raised.
The trial is to resume on Friday.