Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 12, 1991 TAG: 9104120220
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A5 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: ROME LENGTH: Medium
At least 139 passengers and crew members died in a burst of flames after a ferry boat slammed into a tanker in heavy fog around midnight Wednesday near the port of Leghorn, about 190 miles northwest of the Italian capital. One cabin attendant was the only survivor from the ferry Moby Prince. The 28 crewmen of the tanker Agip Abruzzo abandoned ship safely.
At midday Thursday, the 109,000-ton Cypriot tanker Haven exploded and caught fire after unloading crude oil off the port of Genoa, 100 miles farther north. One crewman died, at least seven others were missing and 27 were rescued injured from a burning sea, merchant marine officials said.
Officials said the Haven, its back broken by the explosion, was sinking at anchorage four miles off the coast with 140,000 tons of crude oil aboard. Fearing a major oil spill, officials dispatched specially equipped anti-pollution vessels to the Haven to join navy ships and helicopters seeking survivors.
The two accidents were unconnected, and officials had no clue what caused the explosion aboard the Haven, whose captain was Greek and crew mostly Filipino, port officials said.
Investigators, though, suspected negligence by the ferry's crew for the collision off Leghorn, which occurred in a well-known anchorage area near the port despite the presence of three sophisticated radar systems aboard the ferry.
"From what we know so far, my impression is that human error is at the heart of this tragedy," said Italy's Merchant Marine Minister Carlo Vizzini, ordering an official inquiry.
Vizzini noted that the first sign of alarm was an SOS from the anchored tanker, whose crew initially thought that the collision had been caused by a fuel barge.
Alessio Bertrand, 24, a cabin attendant aboard the Moby Prince, was watching a televised European Cup playoff soccer match between Barcelona and Juventus of Turin with fellow crew members when the collision occurred.
"I heard a crash, and then there was smoke and fire everywhere. I heard screams from passengers and other crew members, but there was nothing I could do. My friends died beside me. It's a miracle I'm alive," he said from a hospital in Leghorn. He was the only survivor.
In the fog Wednesday night, the 98,545-ton Agip Abruzzo, which is owned by Italy's state oil company, had anchored off the coast because vessels carrying dangerous cargos are not allowed into the port area at night.
The 400-foot-long, 6,187-ton Moby Prince was part of a privately owned fleet of passenger-and-vehicle ferries that ply between the Italian mainland and the resort island of Sardinia.
by CNB