Court orders cruise company to raise "Sea Diamond" from Santorini seabed

Sea Diamond (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Good news. A Piraeus first-instance court ordered the Cypriot company that owns the sunken cruise ship "Sea Diamond" to raise it from the seabed near the island of Santorini, as well pay 14 million Euros to the Greek state as well as to the Thira municipality for all the damages they caused because of the sinking.

The ruling was passed in a lawsuit that was filed by the Thira municipality in April 2013 and that demanded that the "Sea Diamond" be raised. It should be reminded that the cruise boat sank off the coast of Santorini in 2007 after hitting a reef. Another lawsuit was also filed by the Greek state, which sought compensation for the same reasons -as well as moral damages- because the company had blamed faulty sea charts for the accident.

A representative of the Cyprus-based cruise company said that they will now lodge appeals against the court's decision.