Costa Cruises Seeks to Reassure Italy over Job Loss Fears
A unit of one of the world's biggest cruise operators sought to reassure Italy on Friday that plans to transfer some of its operations to Germany did not mean it would move abroad. Costa Cruises, part of Carnival Corp, is based in the northern Italian port of Genoa, but transport workers union FIT-CISL fears the company's transfer plan spells job losses. Unions are concerned that the transfer of four Costa Cruises units to Hamburg would result in the loss of about 160 jobs and…
Ferry Salvage Opration Kills Two Albanian Seamen
Two Albanian seamen were killed during an operation to salvage a multideck car ferry that caught fire off Greece's Adriatic Coast when a cable connecting their boat to the ferry snapped and hit them, an Albanian port authority official said on Tuesday. The deaths add to a toll of 10 confirmed victims of the disaster, but there was continuing uncertainty over how many might still be unaccounted for on the smouldering hulk of the Norman Atlantic. More than 400 people airlifted from the vessel in a 36-hour rescue operation by Italian and Greek helicopters. The aftermath of the rescue has been marked by confusion over the number of victims, with dozens of names on the ship's manifest unaccounted for and no clarity over whether they had drowned or were not on board in the first place.
Update: Eight Dead in Ferry Fire
Rescue teams on Monday completed the evacuation of 427 people from a car ferry that caught fire off Greece's Adriatic coast, working through the night and defying high seas and freezing weather in a 36-hour drama. Eight people were killed in the incident and many others could be missing, prompting Italian authorities to continue an air search of the sea around the vessel while they sought to verify the number of passengers who had been on board. The fire broke out on a vehicle deck of the Norman Atlantic ferry…
Syrian Chemical Arsenal Due for Italian Port Ship-to-Ship Transfer
The transfer of some 500 tons of Syria's chemical agents to the US special purpose vessel 'MV Cape Ray' will take place in the port of Gioia Tauro, reports Xinhua, citing a hearing before the Italian parliamentary commissions of foreign affairs and defence. The Syrian chemical arsenal aboard the Danish cargo vessel will be directly transfered to the U.S. ship MV Cape Ray through 60 containers and special equipment, and citing Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Maurizio Lupi…
