103 Japanese among grounded ship evacuees

Saturday, March 15, 2008

103 Japanese among grounded ship evacuees
Compiled from AP, Kyodo

POROS, Greece — Greek authorities evacuated a tour ship with more than 300 people aboard, including 103 Japanese, after it ran aground Thursday in choppy seas off Poros, an island near Athens. No injuries were reported.

The 278 passengers, mainly Japanese, American and Russian tourists, were evacuated by boat to Poros before heading back to Piraeus, where they arrived in the evening.

"Nobody suffered a scratch and everything went very well. There was no panic and nobody was hurt," Poros Mayor Dimitris Stratigos told AP. "We were lucky, thank God."

But one eyewitness apparently disagrees with the minister's comments.

"The impact of hitting the ground was so huge that many passengers were thrown from their seats," Naoki Mizutani, 45, told Kyodo.

Deputy Merchant Marine Minister Panos Kammenos told AP the accident was under investigation, but sought to allay fears about the safety of Greek ships. Last year, a cruise ship with more than 1,500 people on board sank after hitting rocks near the Aegean island of Santorini. Two French tourists died.

"Greece is a safe destination and Greek ships operate according to international law," he told AP at Piraeus, where he had gone to receive the evacuated passengers. "We are a naval country with hundreds of islands, and hundreds of ships traveling on a 24-hour basis. Such incidents prove that we are in a position to handle such events."