Greece locates data recorder of sunken cruise liner

Apr 13, 2007, 11:15 GMT

Athens - Greek officials Friday located the voyage data recorder belonging to a sunken cruise liner near the Aegean island of Santorini, and said they hope its retrieval will shed light on the cause of the sinking which took the lives of two passengers.

The 22,000 tonne Sea Diamon, operated by Louis Cruise Lines, hit a reef on April 5 close to the holiday island and sank early the following day.

More than 1,500 passengers and crew were evacuated safely, but hours after the government declared the rescue operation a success it was discovered that a 45-year-old Frenchman and his 16-year-old daughter were missing.

On Friday, a robot underwater submarine took footage of the voyage data recorder, located on the bridge of the Sea Diamond, approximately 140 meters below sea level.

Efforts will now be made to retrieve the data recorder, which experts hope will shed some light on the cause of the cruise liner's sinking.

Cleaning crews could be seen trying to clean up the oil spill from the island's coastline and pumping the remaining fuel from the ship's tanks in order to avoid an environmental disaster ahead of the busy tourist season.

Some 500 tons of water mixed with oil have been collected, reports said.

The company claims that human error caused the ship to sink and a Greek prosecutor has charged the captain and five other crew with negligence leading to the sinking. If found guilty, the crew could face a suspended prison sentence.

The ship's captain argues that he wished to steer the ship elsewhere after it ran aground while port authorities on the island claim that they had not given the order for the ship to be towed.

A number of passengers accused the crew of not doing enough to help with the evacuation effort and complained about the shortage of life vests.