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The cruise ship Sea Diamond sank off the coast of Santorini
on April 6, 2007. As far as maritime accidents go, the
surprising element in this one was the vessel was virtually a
stone's throw away from land. A court in Greece handed the
captain a jail sentence of 12 years and 2 months, in addition to
a fine of 8,000 euro. The five other defendants sentenced in
the legal proceedings are not expected to serve prison time.
The ship was carrying 1,195 passengers and 391 crew at the
time of the accident in the Aegean Sea. All hands were safely
evacuated except of for two French passengers who may
have been trapped below as the ship filled with water. In
addition to the captain, the court also sentenced the navigation
officer, chief engineer, a security office, an inspector, and a
legal representative. The judge handed these five sentences
running between six and thirty four months. Three other
people were acquitted of the prosecutor's charges. The
21,000 ton vessel was operated by Louis Cruises.
The legal defense offered in the case was that ship's officers
relied on navigational charts that contained incorrect
information. The official charts, prepared by the Hellenic
Navy's Hydrographic Service, showed that the reef struck by
the cruise ship was farther from shore than in actuality. The
sea depths shown in the official charts ran between 18 and 22
meters. However, a nautical survey performed after the
accident revealed that the true depths were in the order of 5
meters.
Louis Cruises plans to appeal the court's decision and take
the matter higher in the Greek judicial system up to the Higher
Court of Appeals. (Source: Cruise Critic, enetenglish.gr)
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