Ship vanishes for two days
A Greek cargo ship with eight sailors aboard, which set sail from Egypt on Saturday for the island of Zakynthos but with which communication was lost a day later, finally contacted authorities yesterday afternoon, prompting them to call off a wide search operation that they had launched just hours earlier. The Filippos K, carrying 1,450 tons of cement, left the Egyptian port of Damietta on Saturday afternoon with an all-Greek crew and was expected in Zakynthos yesterday, the Merchant Marine Ministry said. However, after failing to make contact for over 48 hours, the captain yesterday informed authorities that his ship was some 50 kilometers off Ierapetra in southern Crete. The captain gave no clues as to why his ship seemed to have disappeared for two days. Another Greek ship, the Alpha Gemini, was the last to sight the Filippos K on Sunday afternoon, 150 kilometers northwest of Alexandria. The captain of the Filippos K asked for a weather report and gave no indication of any problem, the ministry said.
