Heleanna (ship)
 Heleanna in Ancona, August 1, 1971
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The Heleanna was a Greek car and passenger ferry that operated between Patras and Ancona . It caught fire at sea in 1971, with 41 victims.
The ship
The tanker Munkedal was built in 1953 by Götaverken in Gothenburg , Sweden . It was 167.37 meters long and 20.16 meters wide. In January 1954 it was delivered to the shipping company Munkedals AB, Munkedal . In August 1960 it was sold to the shipping company AB Monacus, Kungsbacka for 5.6 million Swedish kronor .
In the 1960s, the Greek shipping company Konstantinos Efthymiadis, Piraeus acquired four Swedish tankers for conversion into passenger ships:
- the Maria Gorthon (renamed Phaistos ) IMO 5413006, 1963
- the Soy Margareta (renamed in Minos ) IMO 5336143, 1964
- die Soja-Birgitta (renamed Sophia ) IMO 5336129, 1965
- the Munkedal (renamed Heleanna) IMO 5243748, 1966.
After the conversion, the ships kept their appearance, but were equipped with cabins between the upper deck and the engine room to accommodate the passengers. Then the hatches on the sides were opened. The ships operated mainly between Piraeus and Crete or between Patras and Ancona.
The Munkedal was established in June 1966 by Efthymiadis for 200,000 pounds sterling bought. After the takeover in Port-de-Bouc , she was renamed Heleanna . On June 3, 1966, she went to Perama , Greece. There it was converted into a car and passenger ferry at a shipyard and used on June 23, 1967 for ferry operations between Patras and Ancona.
The Heleanna had a 5070 kW Götaverken-MAN diesel engine and could carry 676 passengers at a speed of 14 knots.
Heleanna "luggage lift"
Efthymiadis logo
Rush at the car and passenger loading
Lifebuoy on the Heleanna
Fire in 1971
The Heleanna set sail on August 27, 1971 at 10 a.m. in Patras in the direction of Ancona with 1128 passengers, 185 cars and 8 trucks on board.
At around 5:30 a.m., a gas leak from the kitchen area caused a severe fire. As the wind got stronger, the fire spread and the captain ordered to leave the ship. At the time of the disaster, the ship with 1,174 passengers (about double the permitted 620) and about 200 cars was on its way to Ancona, 25 nautical miles north of Brindisi and 9 nautical miles from Torre Canne , near Fasano at position 40.58N , 17.35E. Coordinates: 40 ° 58 ′ 0 ″ N , 17 ° 35 ′ 0 ″ E
The ship, approved for 620 people, was manned by over 1,100 people at the time of the accident, so that not enough life-saving equipment was available. Since the accident occurred near the coast, 1103 passengers and crew members were rescued. Of the passengers of various nationalities, mostly Italian, French and Greek, 25 people died, another 16 remained missing and about 270 were injured. The presence of stowaways on board made it impossible to determine the exact number of those missing.
Of the twelve lifeboats, the winds were blocked in more than half and could not be lowered into the sea. Of those that were lowered, one capsized due to overcrowding.
rescue
The air and sea rescues started from Brindisi , Bari , Monopoli , Taranto , Grottaglie and there were also some private fishing boats ("Laura", "'Madonna della Madia", "' Angela Danese", "'Nuova Vittoria", "' S. Cosimo, "Caterina Tomacelli" from Trieste "), who helped in the search for the missing at sea and in the rescue of the castaways. The fire could only be extinguished after many hours.
For the help and welcome that the cities of Brindisi and Monopoli offered to the shipwrecked of the Heleanna , the head of state Giovanni Leone presented the two cities with the Silver Medal of Bravery on October 15, 1972 in recognition of the ancient tradition of hospitality and the citizenship of the people.
Investigations
The ship's captain, Dimitrios Anthipas, who was later convicted by both the Italian and Greek judiciary, attempted to escape on August 30, 1971, but was arrested in the port of Brindisi before he managed to get along with his wife secretly embark on a ship to Greece. Subsequent investigations showed the poor condition of the ship and the poor functioning of the existing rescue systems and fire hydrants.
At the time of the fire and after that until February 27, 1973, Italy claimed only 6 nautical miles as territorial waters . In this sense the accident took place in international waters. However, the Italian authorities stated that they were responsible for the trial of the ship's captain, as some of the victims of the disaster had certainly died in Italian territorial waters and at least one victim had died in Brindisi hospital. For their part, the Greek authorities were interested in the matter as the ship was sailing under the Greek flag.
Whereabouts
The wreck was towed to the port of Brindisi, where it remained near the Alfonsino Castle until 1974, before being towed to the Cantieri Lotti shipyard in La Spezia in February 1974, where some parts were cut away. The wreck was later towed to Toulon , France, and converted into a barge in March 1975.
Web links
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Konstantinos Efthymiadis shipping company
- ^ Shipspotting.com, Aug. 4, 2007
- ↑ Timetables Efthymiadis Lines 1971
- ↑ M / T MUNKEDAL (1954)
- ↑ Spiegel of September 6, 1971: Disasters: Dance in Service
- ↑ Nautilus: The story of the Greek ship Heleanna
- ^ Atti Parlamentari V Legislatura, 543rd public session , Senate of the Republic, September 30, 1971
- ↑ The Heleanna Case and International Legislative Treaties: A New Form of Contracting? , The American Journal of International Law, Vol. 69, No. 3, pp. 624-628 - July 1975