Robot Sub Will Search for 2 in Sunken Ship ; French Tourists Believed Drowned in Greece

By NICHOLAS PAPHITIS, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ATHENS, Greece Greek rescuers will deploy a robot submarine to search for the bodies of two French tourists believed to have drowned when a cruise ship sank off a resort island in the Aegean Sea last week, authorities said Monday.

The ship’s captain has blamed Thursday’s accident on sea currents that swept the Sea Diamond onto a charted reef off the island of Santorini, tearing a hole in the ship’s hull. Nearly 1,600 people mostly American tourists were rescued before the vessel sank.

An oceanographic vessel is expected to arrive on the island today to deploy the unmanned sub in an attempt to locate the missing passengers and the ship’s voyage data recorder, the Merchant Marine Ministry said.

Most of the hull is 320 feet below the water’s surface inside a sea-filled crater caused by a volcanic eruption 3,500 years ago.

Jean-Christophe Allain, 45, and his 16-year-old daughter, Maud, were believed to have been trapped in a flooded lower cabin when the ship sank. The missing man’s wife told authorities she narrowly escaped from the cabin with their son.

The rest of the passengers reached safety after scrambling onto lifeboats, crossing narrow gangways and climbing down rope ladders.

The Sea Diamond sank some 15 hours later, causing an oil slick that experts fought to clean up on Monday. Crews worked to contain more than 50 tons of oil spilled since the 469-foot vessel went down, while plans were made to seal off or remove the remaining 400 tons from the wreckage.

Also Monday, investigators questioned island boatsmen over allegations the crew delayed evacuating the passengers. Six crew members of the Greek-flagged ship, including the captain and chief mate, have been charged with negligence. None have been identified.

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