THE GREEK AUSTRALIAN The oldest circulating Greek newspaper outside Greece email: VEMA [email protected] APRIL 2007 Tel. (02) 9559 7022 Fax: (02) 9559 7033 In this issue... Easter Message of His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos PAGE 5/23 Key find in shipwreck Data recorder located, could provide vital clues on sinking Hopes of discovering what happened in the final hours before whether the sinking of the vessel could have been prevented and the cruise ship Sea Diamond sank last week off Santorini were who decided the location to which the ship was pulled before even- raised on Saturday 14 April, when investigators announced they tually sinking. had located the vessel’s data recorder. Sources said yesterday that the prosecutor would also request per- mission to have access to the mobile phone records of the Sea The Merchant Marine Ministry said the ‘black box’had been found Diamond’s captain and representatives of Louis Cruise Lines, which by the robot submarine being used to inspect the shipwreck. owns the ship. The data recorder, which contains all the ship’s communications The question as to whether the ship could have been saved could and details of its movements, was found at a depth of 85 meters and prove crucial in the compensation claim. It has been suggested that Is Anzac Day investigators were trying last night to recover the box using a sub- if the coast guard or other Greek authorities gave the order for it to mersible with robotic arms. be allowed to sink far from the port, then Louis Cruise Lines or its Christian? The local coast guard has issued orders for the box to be recovered insurers may seek compensation from the Greek state. only by mechanical means so there can be no accusations that the Investigators have not been able to find the bodies of Frenchman PAGES 8/26- 9/27 data recorder has been tampered with before being given to the Jean-Christophe Allain and his daughter, Maud, who have been Naxos prosecutor who is handling the case. missing, feared drowned, since the ship sank. Investigators hope the data that has been recorded will clear up confusion about why the Sea Diamond hit a well-marked reef, FULL REPORT PAGE 2/20 Ancient Thessaloniki emerges, thanks to digging for metro PAGE 13/31 Alogoskoufis ‘fully satisfied’ with Australia visit PAGE 19/37 When the Boat came in PAGES 10/28, 11/29 & 16/34 Sikyon: revival uro Funeral Service Eëëçíéêü Ïéêïãåíåéáêü Ãñáöåßï Ôåëåôþí of an ancient site Tel: (02) 9747 6604 PAGE 18/36 Available 24 hrs 114543 APRIL 2007 2/20 TO BHMA The Greek Australian VEMA Cruise ship waters muddied Unclear why vessel was not pulled to shallower area; Frenchwoman recounts her escape The owners of the cruise ship that sank off Santorini said that human error had been to blame for the accident and that efforts had been made to keep the vessel afloat and that it is not clear who ordered the tugboat to pull the ship from shallow waters. «The incident was a result of human error but so are 75 percent of all accidents at sea,» said Giorgos Koubenas, head of the operations department at Louis Cruise Lines. The government has also pointed to human error as the key factor that led to the accident last week. Captain Yiannis Marinos has blamed a current for pushing the Sea Diamond off course and onto a well-marked reef. However, there is confusion about what happened in the hours fol- lowing the collision. Koubenas told reporters that the company ordered the captain to 20 APRIL, 1999 SOVIETS INVADE move the ship to shallower waters, some 130 meters away, so efforts Columbine High School massacre could be made to prevent the vessel from sinking. CZECHOSLOVAKIA: Louis Cruise Lines claims the tugboat, which steadied the ship On this dayAugust in 1999, 20,two 1968teenage gunmen while passengers were evacuated, pulled the Sea Diamond in the kill 13 people in a shooting spree at opposite direction once the rescue operation was complete. Columbine High School in Littleton, «I do not know who gave the order for the ship to end up there,» Colorado,On the night south of August of Denver. 20, 1968, At approxi-approx- Koubenas said. He added that the cruise firm is hopeful that the ship’s matelyimately 11:19 200,000 a.m., Warsaw Dylan Klebold,Pact troops 18, and voyage data recorder can be recovered from the wreckage. The 22,412-ton Sea Diamond, hit a reef close to the scenic Eric5,000 Harris, tanks 17,invade dressed Czechoslovakia in trench coats, to The head of Santorini’s boatmen’s association, Gerasimos Kana- began shooting students outside the Aegean island, forcing more than 1,500 mainly foreign passen- crush the "Prague Spring"--a brief period karis, told Kathimerini that there was no spot nearby wide enough gers and crew to evacuate. One day later it sank. schoolof liberalization before moving in the insidecommunist to continue coun- where the sinking cruise ship could have been pulled. He also sug- theirtry. Czechoslovakians rampage. By 11:35 protested a.m., Klebold the inva- and gested that the Sea Diamond had begun to list by some 20 degrees Harris had killed 12 fellow students and a ger ferry company, said he had not seen any impact on bookings and sion with public demonstrations and other when the evacuation finished and it was almost certain it would sink. sales so far. “Any such accident is bad for the tourism sector as a teachernon-violent and woundedtactics, but another they 23were people. no Kanakaris said that the captain could be heard on the marine VHF Shortly after noon, the two teens turned whole but I think there will only be small damage, if any,” he said. match for the Soviet tanks. The liberal radio wondering where the tugboat was taking the ship. Kanakaris In September 2000, 82 people drowned when the passenger ferry theirreforms guns of on First themselves Secretary and Alexandercommitted added that the coast guard is usually responsible for deciding the fate suicide. Express Samina hit rocks and sank off the island of Paros. The inci- Dubcek were repealed and "normaliza- of a sinking ship. However, authorities have not confirmed whether dent did not affect the coastal shipping industry the next season. tion" began under his successor Gustav the coast guard intervened in the case of the Sea Diamond. 26 APRIL, 1986 Husak. Meanwhile, the search continued yesterday for the Frenchman Ship fully insured Nuclear disaster at Chernobyl Jean-Christophe Allain and his 16-year-old daughter Maud, who PARIS LIBERATED: appear to have drowned in the disaster. The 45-year-old man’s wife, On April 26, 1986, the world's worst Separately, the Cypriot owners of the Sea Diamond said in Nicosia August 25, 1944 Anne Allain, said that a French speaker had told the family to remain the vessel was fully insured and would have no immediate impact on nuclear power plant accident occurs at the in their cabin and wait for a crew member after they called reception Chernobyl nuclear power station in the company profits as the company’s shares fell sharply. After more than four years of Nazi occu- to explain that water was seeping into the ship. Soviet Union. Thirty-two people died and Shares in Cyprus-based Louis Plc were down 13.7 percent in early pation, Paris is liberated by the French In a written account sent to Agence France-Presse, Allain said that dozens more suffered radiation burns in yesterday trade on the Cyprus bourse, the first day of trading since 2nd Armored Division and the U.S. 4th the pressure of the water forced the door to burst open. the opening days of the crisis, but only the disaster, which coincided with a long Easter break. Infantry Division. German resistance was «A huge wave poured into the space where we were,» said Allain, after Swedish authorities reported the fall- Louis acquired the Sea Diamond in 2006 for $35 million (–26 mil- light, and General Dietrich von Choltitz, who found herself swimming underwater in the corridor. out did Soviet authorities reluctantly lion). The group has another 12 vessels operating mainly in the commander of the German garrison, «I instinctively surfaced on the right side of the corridor, taking into admit that an accident had occurred. Mediterranean. defied an order by Adolf Hitler to blow up account that the ship was listing to the left. I was able to get my breath Expressing regret at the incident, Louis said: “The vessel was fully Paris' landmarks and burn the city to the and I turned back toward the cabin but I saw no one following me,» 28 APRIL, 1945 insured and subsequently it is not expected its loss will have any ground before its liberation. Choltitz she said. Benito Mussolini executed immediate impact on company results.” The company did not speci- signed a formal surrender that afternoon, fy how much the Sea Diamond was insured for and its spokesman and on August 26, Free French General Small impact on Greek cruises from sinking, On this day in 1945, "Il Duce," Benito was not immediately available for comment. Charles de Gaulle led a joyous liberation according to industry Mussolini, and his mistress, Clara Petacci, Louis said the vessel was also insured in the event of pollution, now march down the Champs d'Elysees. are shot by Italian partisans who had cap- a worry for Greek authorities. The 22,412-ton Sea Diamond, run by Louis Cruise Lines, hit a reef The Sea Diamond’s itinerary had been taken over by other vessels turedJAPAN the couple SURRENDERS: as they attempted to flee close to the scenic Aegean island, forcing more than 1,500 mainly to Switzerland.