MTS Oceanos
Side view of the Oceanos ( drawing)
- Jean Laborde (1953 - ca 1970)
- Mykinai (ca. 1970 - ca 1971)
- Ancona ( circa 1971 - circa 1974 )
- Eastern Princess (1974 - ca 1976)
- ? (1976 - ca 1980)
The Oceanos was a cruise ship that sank off South Africa in 1991. It had a length of 150 m and a volume of 14,000 GRT. The ship was left in July 1952 in Bordeaux as a passenger and cargo ship Jean Laborde for the shipping company Message Maritimes to water. It then went through several name changes until it was rebuilt by the Greek shipping company Epirotiki Lines cruise ship Oceanos.
Downfall
The ship was on August 3, 1991, 571 passengers and crew members on the way from East London in South Africa to Durban. It was in front of the Transkei in a storm, as an explosion at 21:30 clock noise was heard in the engine room, after which the ship sprang a leak and the drive failed. With a 10 cm hole for a vent pipe that has not been closed after maintenance, the sea water was running through the bulkhead of the engine room through the sanitary system. Due to the lack of check valves are the sea water distributed through the sewer pipes in the lower decks so that the ship sank slowly.
The captain Yiannis Avranas decided to abandon the ship, but was overwhelmed with the situation and initiated no coordinated rescue operation. The ship's officers were preparing the lifeboats, but without the actions of the passengers instructions or to offer assistance. Instead attempted civilian employees on the ship, including the musicians Moss Hills, the rep Lorraine Betts and the magician Julian Butler to take care of the passengers and to organize the evacuation.
Since the Oceanos increasingly got flip side, could not be lowered into the water all the lifeboats. The officers who were involved in the splashdown, used boats available for their own salvation. Around 3 clock still remained about 220 passengers and crew members without usable lifeboat, including the captain. The volunteers used the radio to the unmanned bridge to coordinate the rescue with other ships.
6:30 clock made the first helicopter of the South African Defence Force for an air ambulance. Captain Avranas ranked as one of the first in the waiting on deck group for that. Due to strong winds and accommodate a maximum of two helicopters side by side, the rescue operation dragged on for several hours. Overall were 16 aircraft in service, including 13 transport helicopters Aérospatiale SA 330, which pulled up the remaining people on a winch.
The ship sank about 15:30 clock. The wreck lies about ten kilometers south of Coffee Bay at a depth of 91 m. All 571 passengers and crew members survived the accident.
Aftermath
Several survivors expressed their angry about the behavior of the captain and the ship's officers. In addition to his responsibility for the rescue of passengers and crew disobeyed Captain Avranas the tradition, " The captain is the last to board ." To this end, he later explained: "When I give the order abandon ship, it does not matter what time I leave. Abandon is for everybody. If some people want to stay, They can stay " ( in German:. .. , When I give the order to abandon ship, it does not matter when I go on board the command applies to all If some people want to stay, so can they do this. )
Moss Hills had to once again witness a shipwreck, a little more than three years later; he was engaged on the last voyage of the cruise ship Achille Lauro board as musicians, which sank after a fire and a resulting explosion on 2 December 1994.