Greek Ferry Captain Admits He Was Asleep

P A R O S, Greece, Sept. 29, 2000 -- The captain of the Greek ferry inTuesday’s disaster said he was asleep just before the vessel struck a rocky outcropping and sank.

A Greek newspaper said the captain told investigators he was taking a nap and his first officer was off the bridge flirting with a passenger when the Express Samina ran aground.

The captain, his first officer and two crew members have been charged with murder,neglect of duty and violation of maritime procedures.

Divers pulled more bodies from the Aegean waters today, bringing the death toll to 75. Several bodies have been found trapped in the wreckage of the ship, which sank 115 feet in rough seas two miles of the coast of Paros.

Some of the victims appeared to have died while desperately trying to escape. Divers said bodies were found in the wreckage that had been caught by their lifejackets. Other bodies were found floating in the remote coves that dot the holiday island.

There are fears the death toll could rise even higher in what is Greece’s worst maritime accident in 35 years.

More than 540 people were reportedly onboard the ferry when it went down. Rescuers were able to bring 108 tourists and 365 Greek passengers to safety.

Captain: First Officer Was Flirting

Captain Vassilis Yannakis told investigators he was taking a nap and his first officer was off the bridge flirting with a passenger, according to testimony excerpted in the daily Ta Nea today.

“I went to sleep for a bit, for 10 minutes, because I wasn’t feeling well,” Vassilis told investigators, quoted by Ta Nea. He was woken by first officer Anastasios Psychoyos, who said strong winds were causing problems.

“Before I managed to get there [to the bridge], I heard a‘boom,’” Yannakis said.

He said he was told by a crewman later that Psychoyos had been “in the lounge flirting with a woman.”

Psychoyos told reporters late Thursday that “the weather pushed us on the rocks. We had maintained a safe distance.”

The first officer told investigators he saw the rocks at the last minute and ordered the helmsman to turn the ship. “When I saw the ship was headed for the two rocks I personally grabbed the wheel and turned hard left. The bad thing happened though. It is my fault,” he was quoted by the daily Eleftherotypia.

Winds, Chaos and Debris

For two days, divers were hampered by gale force winds andstrong currents that prevented them from descending to the wreck. High winds also kept local fishing boats and other vessels from joining the rescue effort.

In improved weather today, divers found the Samina lying on its side in the sand in 115 feet of clear water. A gash ran the length of its bottom right side.

“We found three people wedged in the railings, stuck by their life vests as they tried to squeeze through. Another woman was in a life raft,” said diver Lazaros Christodoulou. “It was shocking.”

The water’s surface was still rough, with high winds and waves. Underwater, the current was so strong that it ripped one body from divers’ hands and had to be recovered on the surface far from the wreck, Christodoulou said.

“It was chaos down there with debris,” he said.

The ferry’s operating company, Minoan Flying Dolphins, has also come under pressure after another of its passenger ships, the Express Artemis, ran aground near Paros late Thursday at the nearby island of Naxos. Other ships took its 1,081 passengers to ports near Athens.

Last month, a hydrofoil also owned by Minoan caughtfire and 76 passengers abandoned the craft unharmed.

Survivors from the Paros ferry disaster claimed the evacuationwas badly organized and that many life vests were filled chunks ofwood.

Seamen’s unions strongly dispute assurances by Minoan and coastguard inspectors that the 34-year-old Express Samina was seaworthy.

Yannis Iriotis, Minoan’s chief legal adviser, believes thecompany bears no responsibility, saying the evidence “points to human error shown by the crew.”

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.