PASSENGER NUMBERS Ferry inquiry dispute

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32700, 1 September 1971, Page 17

PASSENGER NUMBERS Ferry inquiry dispute

(N.Z.P. A.-Reuter—Copyright) BRINDISI (Italy), August 31. A Greek ferry captain, Demetrios Antipas, will go before an Italian prosecutor in Brindisi today to be interrogated about the disaster in his ship when it caught fire in the Adriatic Ocean on Saturday.

Twenty-four passengers died in the tragedy, and Antipas, 43 - year - old master of the 11,400-ton car ferry Heleanna, has been accused of multiple manslaughter. The arrest warrant, signed yesterday by Dr Aldo Perrone, Brindisi's Deputy Public Prosecutor, also accused Antipas of allowing his ship to be overloaded and having inadequate safety equipment. Determining exactly how many people were on board the ferry, reputed to be one of the biggest of its type in the world, has become one of the most complicated aspects of the investigation into the disaster.

Brindisi's port commander, Colonel Onorio Carlesino, announced last night that the vessel’s safety certificate had come into his possession and ft allowed for a maximum of 620 people, including crew, to be on board. The owners of the Heleanna, the Ephthimiades Shipping Company, had said earlier that the ship was carrying 920 passengers and 97 crew.

The Greek Ministry of Merchant Marine, Transport and

Communications said in Athens that 1108 people were

officially registered as having boarded the Heleanna.

But a spokesman said the figure might be even higher because several children and the ship’s band of five musicians had not been registered. Italian authorities say that they had rescued 1150 people and recovered 24 bodies. The Greek ministry also said that the Heleanna was seaworthy and was equipped with adequate fire-fighting installations and lifeboats. The Ministry statement also defended the captain of the vessel and its crew and said that, contrary to passengers’ allegations, preliminary investigations had shown they all carried out their duty properly.

An inquiry which had been opened into the case would ascertain whether there was dereliction of duty, the statement added.