571 Escape Sinking Cruise Ship - August 1991

A major disaster was averted when all 571 passengers and crew on a cruise ship escaped before the vessel went down. The Oceanos, operated by a Greek shipping company, was off the coast of South Africa, August 3, when it began taking off water. South African Air Force helicopters airlifted 200 people to safety, and the rest were picked up from lifeboats or the sea. The ship sank into the Indian Ocean, August 4. The captain, Yiannis Avranas, said a piston had burst in the engine room and torn a hole in the hull. Some passengers complained that the captain and crew had abandoned the ship without supervising rescue operations.