The captain of the Norman Atlantic, Argilio Giacomazzi has testified before an Italian magistrate over his handling of the fire aboard the ship.
In his testimony, which lasted for five and a half hours, the captain maintained that proper procedure was followed at all times.
However he confirmed what has been alleged by many of the rescued passengers: that no fire alarm was sounded even as the blaze was spreading through the ship. This, he maintained, was so as not to cause a panic.
Many passengers have stated that they only became aware of the fire due to smoke pouring into their cabins and filling the ship.
“First we went ahead with an internal alarm among the crew, because due to the size of the fire, we did not want to cause a panic among the passengers. Later, in line with safety protocols we sounded the alarm,”Giacomazzi testified, according to the Italian press.
The captain of the doomed Norman Atlantic faces charges including manslaughter by negligence, and causing a shipwreck through negligence. The owner of the ship Carlo Visentini also faces criminal charges.
Questions have also been raised as to the fire safety equipment on board and the safety protocols in place. The ship was found to have multiple failings by inspectors in Patras only days before the accident.
In an article the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera has stated that the ship may have been overloaded, reporting that it was carrying at least 128 trucks – at least four of which were carrying oil, 90 cars, two buses and a motorcycle. The newspaper suggests that there may have been even more vehicles aboard, exceeding safe limits. The article also suggests that metal parts of the trucks may have been in contact with the hold. Movement caused by the rough weather may have generated sparks which could have been a cause of the blaze.
11 people have been confirmed to have died in the accident. Greek authorities have identified a third Greek as one of the victims, naming him as Nikolaos Paraschis. Two Albanian seamen aboard a tugboat were also killed during efforts to tow the Norman Atlantic when a cable attached to the vessel snapped and struck them in rough seas.
How many missing passengers?
Meanwhile confusion remains over the number of passengers that were aboard the Norman Atlantic when it set sail from the port of Igoumenitsa.
The manifest which initially put the number of passengers and crew at 478 has been described as ‘inaccurate to a forgery’ by the Italian press. Subsequent statements by Italian authorities put the number at 475 with 425 rescued, 11 dead and almost 40 people missing.
But yesterday the Bari prosecutor investigating the case, Giuseppe Volpe, stated that the number of people travelling on the ship prior to the fire stood at 499. He went on to state that for 179 of the passengers, there was no information although noted that many of them would be aboard the rescue ships.
Now Volpe has said that, “We still do not know what has become of 98 passengers of the Norman Atlantic.” He made the comments following the arrival of the San Giorgio vessel in the port of Prindisi last night which was carrying 216 evacuees, as well as the Jannette which reached Taranta carrying 38 people. According to Volpe, “In the last hours 80 evacuees reached Greece via a helicopter and a merchant ship but there does not appear to be a second ship which has boarded evacuees.”
The Norman Atlantic is now due to be towed to the Albanian port of Avlona. Albanian authorities had earlier provided the authorization for the ship to be taken to Italy but bad weather has rendered that impossible for the time being. Meanwhile search efforts are continuing on board and in the wider area for potential victims.
Greek passengers of the fated ship have begun arriving in Greece after being flown from Prindisi.
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