Shipwreck treated cautiouslyThe precarious position of the sunken Sea Diamond cruise ship is slowing down the process of emptying the vessel’s fuel tanks because experts have to develop a detailed plan about how to conduct the operation without putting any lives at risk.
Santorini Mayor Angelos Roussos said yesterday that the situation is being studied carefully so that divers who will help in the effort to empty more than 400 tons of diesel from the ship will not be any danger.
The vessel sank on April 5 and finally came to rest upside down at a depth of around 120 meters on the slope of Santorini’s volcanic caldera.
Roussos told Skai TV that it would take three to four weeks to complete the task of emptying the ship’s fuel tanks and make sure that the island’s coastline would not face further pollution.
So far, special teams have been cleaning oil from the sea where the ship sank and from the beaches where the diesel that has already seeped out of the shipwreck has washed up. Authorities maintain that tourism on the island has not been affected.
Kathimerini 21/4/2007
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