Sunken ship data collected
The Hellenic Center of Maritime Research (ELKETHE) yesterday completed collecting data on the position of a sunken cruise ship off the island of Santorini, some 40 days after the vessel’s sinking. The owner of the cruise ship, Cyprus-based Louis Hellenic Cruise Lines, requires the data in order to put together a plan to pump out some 430 tons of diesel believed to still be in the ship’s fuel tanks at a depth of 150 meters. Sources said that an operation to remove the fuel is not expected to take place until midsummer. Despite the fuel tanks not being damaged, experts believe the oil has been gradually leaking from the vessel since the April 5 accident. Meanwhile, attempts to refloat a Greek oil tanker carrying 89,300 tons of crude that ran aground east of the Danish island of Samsoe failed on Tuesday. The Minerva Concert ran aground late on Monday after straying out of shipping lanes en route from the Danish port of Frederica to Rotterdam. Another attempt is expected to be made late today.
