Cruise Ship with U.S Tourists in Trouble Off Greek Coast

A cruise ship carrying hundreds of U.S citizens has issued a distress signal from its location off the coast of Greece. A rescue operation to save the 1,600 holidaymakers and crewmembers from the ship has been set in motion.

It is believed that the cruise ship is located somewhere off the coast of the Greek island, Santoroni. The ship is said to be a Greek ship called the Sea Diamond. On board are thought to be passengers from around the world, but most passengers are vacationers from the United States and Germany.

The ship sent a distress signal requesting help after it ran aground near Santorini. The distress call said that the ship's hull had been breached and that water was coming on board.

Rescue workers were quick to react with more than 12 ships and five helicopters dispatched to the location straight away. Rescue workers are currently in the process of evacuating the ship.

It is reported that the Sea Diamond cruise ship is located 1 nautical mile from the coast of Santorini in the Aegean Sea.

The Greek Ministry of Merchant Marine made the announcement regarding the distressed cruise ship.

Passengers on board the Sea Diamond were enjoying a five-day cruise of the Greek Islands. The cruise began well on Monday when it left Pireaus port. The ship was due to return to the port on Friday before today's incident occured.

The reports coming in state that the passengers seem to be all ok and "some passengers have already reached the island and no one has been hurt." The company that is running the cruise, Louis Cruise Lines has said that no passengers were in any danger and a "controlled evacuation" was being carried out.

According to a witness the cruise ship ran aground when it was trying to moor in shallow water. The breach of the hull has caused water to get on board and apparently the ship is now listing quite badly, but luckily weather conditions are good.

At the time of this report a Louis Cruise Lines spokesman, Mihalis Maratheftis, confirmed that 700 people have already been safely removed from the ship. The coast guard is working efficiently to get all of the passengers and crew to safety and the mission is expected to be complete in around one hour.

The cruise line has said they are looking after passengers and that another cruise ship has been dispatched to Santorini to collect the travellers.

Sources
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L05468308.htm
http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=117899
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/04/05/ap3587073.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6530475.stm