www.TheSeaNation.gr

The Grimaldi Group reports that last night a fire occurred on board its ro-pax vessel Euroferry Olympia while she was about 10 miles north of the island of Corfu.
At 04:12 a.m. (local time) the ship's Master contacted the Group's headquarters informing that a fire had broken out in deck No. 3. The ship's crew immediately intervened to put out the fire with on board equipment. Meanwhile, the Master and the Group’s staff, through the “emergency response team”, promptly notified the incident to the competent Italian and Greek authorities and took all necessary measures to manage the accident in the best possible way.
For the safety of the people on board, the Master decided that everyone should abandon the ship. According to preliminary information, the evacuated people were rescued by a vessel of the Italian Guardia di Finanza and one of the Greek Coast Guard who were in the area. These units are heading to the port of Corfu where the Group is organizing assistance for the evacuees.
On board the ship there were 239 passengers of various nationalities, as well as 51 (Italian and Greek) crew members. In addition, the ship carries 153 commercial vehicles (trucks and trailers), as well as 32 passenger vehicles. No fuel spill has been detected at sea, nor does the stability of the ship appear to be compromised.
Tugboats have been hired and are heading towards the Euroferry Olympia to give prompt support and manage the emergency.
The vessel Euroferry Olympia (built in 1995) flies the Italian flag and is deployed by the Grimaldi Group company Grimaldi Euromed S.p.A. on the daily Brindisi-Igoumenitsa maritime connection; she had left the port of Igoumenitsa at 01:20 a.m. (local time) last night and was scheduled to arrive in Brindisi this morning at 09:00 a.m..
The top management of the Grimaldi Group expresses its regret for the incident and will fully cooperate with the competent authorities to shed light on the incident.