Firemen pierce “Eleftherios Venizelos” ferry walls to extinguish fire in the ship’s parking decks
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
The Fire Brigade pierced the exterior walls of ferry “ Eleftherios Venizelos” to pump fire-retardant and water ino one of the ship’s parking decks, where a fire broke out late on Tuesday night, forcing the ferry to return to Piraeus.
The ship’s automated water sprinkling system and smoke in the vehicle deck impeded the firefighters, who as of this afternoon had not put the fire out.
The fire broke out after the ship had set sail from Piraeus at 22:00 to Chania on Crete, when it was sailing east of Hydra island. The 875 passengers and the non-crew staff of the ship were evacuated in Piraeus. On Wednesday morning, some of the trucks were taken off, but most vehicles remain, and some have been destroyed by the fire, the fire chief said.
In addition, a flotation device has been set around the ship, which started listing from the water accumulated inside.
The causes of the fire are unknown, but initial information points to a short-circuit in one of the trucks.
Fire Brigade Chief Vasilios Mattheopoulos said it was a very difficult operation for fire fighters due to the restricted space on the vehicle decks. “ We cannot reach the point of the fire right now because the space is very narrow,” he said.
The ship was carrying 80 trucks and 152 smaller vehicles in total.
The ship owner ANEK Lines issued an announcement thanking all those that responded to the emergency and helped put out the fire, as well as passengers for their patience and understanding and following the instructions of the crew. ANEK announced that passengers can call the phone lines 210 4197470 and 210 4197420 for any further information. Some passengers have already been sent on to their destination in other ships, while others have been put up in hotels.
Source: AMNA