Passengers and crew members evacuated from the vessel Euroferry Olympia, on which a fire broke out last night off the Greek island, disembarked safely in Corfu at the end of the morning.
After undergoing checks by Greek authorities, evacuees have been offered complete assistance and hotel accommodation by the Grimaldi Group, while waiting to receive green light from the competent authorities to proceed with their transfer to their places of residence.
Following a check of the passengers and crew members evacuated in Corfu, 13 people would be missing. Meanwhile, five of these passengers have been traced down on board and their recovery and evacuation operations immediately started with any means available on site.
In addition, ship recovery operations continue with the use of specialized tugs. There are currently no fuel spills or other types of environmental damage.
For the rescue operations, the Grimaldi Group promptly appointed the Dutch company SMIT Salvage, a global leader in the rescue sector.
Last Wednesday February 16, in Igoumenitsa, the Euroferry Olympia underwent a Port State Control visit, which ended with a positive outcome. The ship is subject to regular checks by the competent authorities as required by international legislation on navigation safety.
The Grimaldi Group informs that, in the late afternoon today, the Greek search and rescue teams managed to find and take two passengers out from the Euroferry Olympia, where they had been stuck up to that moment.
They are a Bulgarian citizen and an Afghan citizen, who were both evacuated and promptly transported to the hospital of Corfu for a medical check-up.
Regarding the vessel’s state, thanks to the continuous work of the firefighting teams, the fire on board the Euroferry Olympia is currently under control, while the ship cooling activities continue.
The top management of the Grimaldi Group wishes to express its deep gratitude to all the Italian and Greek authorities involved in the rescue operations, in particular to the Italian Guardia di Finanza and the Greek Coast Guard for their prompt intervention.
