The fire brigade is also making superhuman efforts to extinguish the fires that are still raging on the Euroferry Olympia ship off the coast. Corfu, but also to reduce temperatures in flaming parts of the ship. The extinguishing of the fire on the ship is attempted by the tugs as well as the fire-fighting ships of the Fire Brigade.
Anxiety about the fate of the 12 missing - but also about the safety of rescuers operating in extremely dangerous conditions - is, of course, the paramount and dominant emotion. At the same time, however, the fire at the Euroferry Olympia is a collective nightmare. And precisely because it is repetitive, it inevitably raises as critical questions as any other thought, the critical questions about causes.
So while 278 passengers have been removed from the passenger / vehicle ferry, safe and relatively harmless, a number of people remain on the burning boat, essentially unspecified. Investigations have stopped since her men EMAK are waiting for the temperature caused by the huge thermal load of the fire to drop, so that they can get on the burning ship and try to locate the missing passengers.
Temperatures on the ship are prohibitive, reaching 600 and 550 degrees Celsius, which makes it virtually impossible for search and rescue operations to continue.
The battle now, as the ship is being towed to a safe place north of Corfu, is not to sink the Euroferry Olympia, but also to put out the fire.
Apart from the rescuers who are just counted and known with their full identity, how many are actually trapped in the garages of the Euroferry Olympia?
How many are the rescuers looking for and so how many will be found alive or dead? How many of the missing are not even on the ship, probably preferring to drown at sea rather than be burned alive or suffocated by smoke and poisonous fumes?
Rescue on the burning ship
It is very likely that an unknown number of smugglers will be added to the 12 - and, of course, completely anonymous. The rescue of a man from Afghanistan who was secretly traveling in the Euroferry Olympia is proof that the real passenger list is unreliable. Consequently, the same applies to the list of missing persons.
It is a common secret - and it was confirmed once again by the testimonies of professional drivers - that on the routes between Greece and Italy the crew often turns a blind eye and allows passengers to stay in the garage during the voyage. Knowing the sailors themselves that the "hotel" facilities of the ships on these lines are not always in the best possible condition.
So even perfectly legal passengers who consciously avoid the cabins of the ship, preferring those of large trucks or caravans, may be tempted to light a stove to heat food, smoke, or do anything else reckless and deadly dangerous. .
Of course, no one can rule out the possibility of fire due to a spark caused by the friction of metal surfaces during the shipwreck. The vehicles are loaded with the minimum possible distance between them and, especially the trucks, end up touching the side walls of the parking lot. As for electric cars, due to their technological peculiarities, it remains unclear at present how vulnerable they are to self-ignition.
The towing
The Euroferry Olympia is expected to be towed to a safe mooring, north of Corfu northeast of Kassiopi Bay, where small fires are still inside, while high temperatures in parts of the ship are currently preventing an operation inside. to locate the 12 missing, including the three Greeks.
By order of the Minister of Shipping and Island Policy Giannis Plakiotakis, the families of the three Greek missing persons, accompanied by an officer of the Coast Guard-Psychologist and with the care of the ministry, have gone to Corfu.
In total, three (03) patrol boats of the Greek Navy, one (01) firefighting vessel of the Fire Service and five Tugs are still trying to extinguish the fire.
According to information, as soon as the operation to locate the missing is completed, as well as the extinguishing of the fire, special crews will pump out all the oil quantities from the ship in order to neutralize the risk of marine pollution.
In the second year the ship will be towed to a safe port according to the instructions of the ship-owning company and after consultation with the Authorities.
An expert investigator who spoke to SKAI "sheds light" on important aspects of the incident.
On the occasion of the complaint of rescued, relatives of missing persons and truck drivers that drivers were sleeping illegally in them, he explains that in each truck there are two drivers and the ticket is for one: so the second one usually stays in the vehicle.
At the same time, a vital element is that when a ship arrives at port, the fire detection system shuts down and then they either forget to open it or do not open it because there are drivers in the garages who may smoke during the voyage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uqp_cPf6W5U
Source: neoskosmos.com.au
photo wirestock, Image license by freepik.com
