Survivors

Here a few pictures of Oceanos survivors: Rose & Gwen 4th of August 2003

Irene - 2005

Eileen - 2005

Sian - 2004 Dale - 2003

Michael - 2006
AKA Jack Daniel

"Jack Daniel"

Okay, so I was spending my time on the internet googling to see if I could find any information on the Oceanos and see if there was a web site set up for passengers who were on the Oceanos when it sank and found a message board: Encyclopedia Titanica http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/discus/messages/6937/70480.html?1116015609 and there was a message there from another passenger Michael O'mahoney, I also found another web site with a message board for the Oceanos and had put a messge there.

To cut a long story short, the other message boardhttp://www.travelserver.net/travelpage/ubb-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=10&t=001062 asked me to tell them my story about the sinking, so I got writing and writing and writing and it turned out to be far to long to put on the message board, so I created this blog. I then went back to the "titanica" message board and left a messge there about the blog, also sent Michael a message.

In my story I mentioned the bit about how we were sitting on the deck while the ship was listing and there was this guy with a bottle of Jack Daniels, and he offered me some Jack Daniels, it stopped us from being frozen to death. We got chatting and he said to me that if ever we got off the ship alive, we would be friends forever - well it turned out that Michael was the guy and he remembered me ... not sure if he remembered the part about being friends 4eva but hey after 15 years it was great that I found him. Turns out he lives in the UK now and will be making a trip sometime to visit Derrick and myself.

So thank you Jack !!!

That Sinking Feeling - By Stephen Lautens

That Sinking Feeling
by Stephen Lautens
April 17, 1998

The cruise industry has reported a sharp increase in bookings since the Titanic came out. In fact, they expect people to book up to 17% more cruises in 1998, and it's all due to the mega-blockbuster movie.
They say it's because people want the luxury and romance of the movie.
Am I missing something here?
Refresh my memory, but wasn't there a minor inconvenience in the movie involving an iceberg? I seem to recall something about 1500 people freezing to death in the Atlantic.
That would get me to rush out and book a cruise.
I'm sure people rushed out to book Zeppelin vacations after the movie "The Hindenberg".
No doubt car sales went up after David Cronenberg's movie "Crash".
Maybe I'm prejudiced because of my own cruise experience. My first and only cruise was on my honeymoon.
I was in charge of booking the honeymoon, and all my plans fell through. Desperate and with only three days left before he wedding I saw a Greek cruise advertised in a window.
Perfect. Not only was I going on a honeymoon, I wouldn't be killed at my own wedding.
The MTS Oceanos wasn't as big as the Titanic, but it wasn't some bathtub toy either. It had five decks and 540 passenger beds. My wife and I occupied the two in cabin D16 - twin beds I would like to point out, in spite of it being our honeymoon.
Let me warn you, a cruise holiday consists mostly of eating. Breakfast is at six, seven and 8:30. The buffet opens at 11:30 and lunch is at noon. A snack is served at four to get you ready for dinner at six or 8:30 (or both). If you're still hungry, there's a buffet at midnight.
It is important to note on the ship schedule that the doctor is only available for two hours a day. Presumably the rest of the time he's helping in the kitchen.
Anyway, we had a great honeymoon bobbing around the Greek Isles on the MTS Oceanos.
The next August I was watching the TV and our honeymoon ship flashed across the screen. I called my wife to have a look and share a nice memory.
And then before our very eyes - I swear - the ship sank.
We watched it go nose first to the bottom of the sea. If you watched closely you could even see the porthole that belonged to our honeymoon suite.
Unlike the Titanic, everyone got off okay, even though the Captain and crew were reported to be the first ones to abandon ship. The magician hired as the entertainment woke up to find he was in charge, and managed to get everyone off the ship.
Maybe the Titanic would have been okay if they had the foresight to book a magic act instead of just snooty rich people and dancing Irishmen.
They never figured out why the Oceanos sank. There was talk of terrorists, insurance claims, just plain old age.
My guess? Someone went through the hull after the seventh meal of the day.
It makes me think of the promise I made to my wife that we would recreate our honeymoon for our 10th anniversary.
That gives me two years to learn how to scuba dive.

The New York Times

HEADLINERS; Career Overboard?

Sometimes only the captain's reputation goes down with his ship. All 561 people aboard the Greek cruise liner Oceanos were rescued before the ship sank off South Africa last weekend, but many of them expressed outrage that the captain, Yiannis Avranas, and the crew were among the first to leave the sinking ship. After the lifeboats were gone, 225 people waited to be rescued by helicopter as the listing vessel was tossed by 30-foot swells. One of the passengers, Irene Smith, said, "We were so angry with the captain that we wanted to throw stones at him." A captain's behavior in such circumstances is governed more by tradition than law, but one expert urged that he be prosecuted for "betraying the responsibilities of a ship's master." Captain Avranas, meanwhile, was unapologetic, saying he left early to help direct the rescue. "When I give the order abandon ship, it doesn't matter what time I leave," he said. "If some people want to stay, they can stay."
August 11, 1991 Week in Review News

"A Captains Tale: The rescue was perfect everybody is safe"

While surfing the internet looking for articles on the Oceanos, I came across this one written by Barry James.


By Barry James International Herald TribuneThursday, Aug. 8, 1991

The captain of the Greek cruise liner Oceanos said Wednesday he was satisfied that he had carried out his duties effectively in the rescue of all 571 passengers and crew when the ship sank off the coast of South Africa on Sunday, and he added that he could not understand why some passengers were now attacking him.
.
The captain, Yiannis Avranas, denied that he had abandoned ship. He said he had supervised the rescue operation from a helicopter hovering over the sinking vessel after going ashore to reestablish communications.
.
Asked about a report that he had gone into hiding to avoid angry passengers, Captain Avranas replied from his hotel in Durban, South Africa: "Hide? Of course not. Why should I hide myself? I am not a killer. I cannot understand why passengers are upset because they are alive. This is unbelievable." Captain Avranas said he had known when he left the ship some hours before it sank that there were 170 passengers and crew still aboard.
.
But, in a telephone interview, he added that leaving the ship before the passengers - including many elderly people - had been evacuated was the only way that he could ensure the safety of all those aboard.
.
When he left, he said, the ship was in darkness and the batteries on the crew's walkie-talkies had died, meaning that he had no communications with his crew or with other rescue craft. He had no way of knowing what had happened to passengers who had been evacuated aboard lifeboats.
.
He said he had been as concerned about the 400 people who had left the ship as about those who remained aboard.
.
"But no one asked me about this until now," Captain Avranas said. After checking the situation from the shore, he said, he flew back to the ship on a helicopter, intending to go back on board. But the weather was so bad that the helicopter crew advised against boarding. He said he therefore stayed aboard the aircraft while remaining passengers and crew were winched off the ship. He said he stayed until he was sure that the ship was completely evacuated and that all the lifeboats had been accounted for.
.
Asked about the maritime tradition that the captain stays with his ship, Captain Avranas said: "That is correct - he must stay and be sure that everybody is safe. And that I did. I did not allow anything else to cross my mind."
.
Speaking hoarsely and in halting English, Captain Avranas said he did not understand why reports in the South African and international press had been so hostile. He added that rather than seeking out his version of events, local reporters had allowed their imaginations to run wild.
.
"I never spoke with any of these newspapers," he said. "They write these things because they don't understand or they don't want to understand."
.
Asked to comment on a report in the Cape Times that he had pushed an elderly woman out of the way in order to board a helicopter, the captain said the account was "imagination."
.
"Of course it is not true," he said.
.
"From my point of view, the rescue was perfect," he said. "Maybe in the last moments it did not go according to my plans, but this does not mean I am guilty."
.
Captain Avranas, 51, who has been an officer for 20 years and a seamen for 30, said he would have preferred to evacuate everyone aboard the lifeboats, but this proved impossible in the high winds and heavy seas.
.
The ship then began listing as flooding gained on the pumps, making it impossible to launch the lifeboats, he said.
.
Once the lifeboats had been launched, Captain Avranas said, he hoped that help would come from land, but none did. He said he had wanted other ships in the area to form a windbreak around his stricken vessel so that he could evacuate more passengers by lifeboat, but was unable to organize this.
.
Once the last lifeboat had left, at about 3 A.M. Sunday, those still aboard the Oceanos had to wait until dawn, about 7 A.M., for the first helicopters to arrive. Captain Avranas said people were calm during this period and sang on the deck.
.
While waiting for the helicopters, he said, many plans had run through his mind.
.
"My first concern was to find out if all the people were alive," he said, "because I had heard many stories over the walkie-talkies. I also wanted to make sure of getting help from the other side."
.
Meanwhile, he said, "members of the crew almost killed themselves" to rescue the passengers."
.
Of his critics, Captain Avranas said, "I'm sorry, but I don't think they have ever been on a ship, or know what sea life means."
.
As part of an official inquiry into the incident, Captain Avranas and other crew members have been answering investigators' questions. A spokesman for the Department of Maritime Affairs at the Transport Ministry in Pretoria said a preliminary statement would be issued Thursday.
.
Captain Avranas denied a report that there had been a previous flooding incident aboard the ship last month. Although he has been quoted as saying that the disaster was caused by a thrown piston, he said he did not know what had caused the flooding.
.
"I think it was the best ship I ever had, a very strong ship," he said.
.
In Athens, Joanna Despotopoulou, a spokeswoman for the Epirotiki Lines, the owner of the ship, said the Oceanos had gone into dry dock for a two-month overhaul, following a round-the-world cruise carrying Japanese peace activists. She said the ship had the highest possible safety rating at Lloyd's Register of Shipping.
.
But a member of the family that owns the line was quoted anonymously by The Associated Press as expressing concern that the company had lost three ships in three years.
.
"We're asking ourselves what is happening, that one misfortune follows another," he said.
.
Mrs. Despotopoulou said, however, that there was no connection between the sinking of the Oceanos, a fire aboard the Pegasus, the company flagship, in Venice in June and the sinking of the liner Jupiter in Piraeus three years ago.
The captain of the Greek cruise liner Oceanos said Wednesday he was satisfied that he had carried out his duties effectively in the rescue of all 571 passengers and crew when the ship sank off the coast of South Africa on Sunday, and he added that he could not understand why some passengers were now attacking him.
.
The captain, Yiannis Avranas, denied that he had abandoned ship. He said he had supervised the rescue operation from a helicopter hovering over the sinking vessel after going ashore to reestablish communications.
.
Asked about a report that he had gone into hiding to avoid angry passengers, Captain Avranas replied from his hotel in Durban, South Africa: "Hide? Of course not. Why should I hide myself? I am not a killer. I cannot understand why passengers are upset because they are alive. This is unbelievable." Captain Avranas said he had known when he left the ship some hours before it sank that there were 170 passengers and crew still aboard.
.
But, in a telephone interview, he added that leaving the ship before the passengers - including many elderly people - had been evacuated was the only way that he could ensure the safety of all those aboard.
.
When he left, he said, the ship was in darkness and the batteries on the crew's walkie-talkies had died, meaning that he had no communications with his crew or with other rescue craft. He had no way of knowing what had happened to passengers who had been evacuated aboard lifeboats.
.
He said he had been as concerned about the 400 people who had left the ship as about those who remained aboard.
.
"But no one asked me about this until now," Captain Avranas said. After checking the situation from the shore, he said, he flew back to the ship on a helicopter, intending to go back on board. But the weather was so bad that the helicopter crew advised against boarding. He said he therefore stayed aboard the aircraft while remaining passengers and crew were winched off the ship. He said he stayed until he was sure that the ship was completely evacuated and that all the lifeboats had been accounted for.
.
Asked about the maritime tradition that the captain stays with his ship, Captain Avranas said: "That is correct - he must stay and be sure that everybody is safe. And that I did. I did not allow anything else to cross my mind."
.
Speaking hoarsely and in halting English, Captain Avranas said he did not understand why reports in the South African and international press had been so hostile. He added that rather than seeking out his version of events, local reporters had allowed their imaginations to run wild.
.
"I never spoke with any of these newspapers," he said. "They write these things because they don't understand or they don't want to understand."
.
Asked to comment on a report in the Cape Times that he had pushed an elderly woman out of the way in order to board a helicopter, the captain said the account was "imagination."
.
"Of course it is not true," he said.
.
"From my point of view, the rescue was perfect," he said. "Maybe in the last moments it did not go according to my plans, but this does not mean I am guilty."
.
Captain Avranas, 51, who has been an officer for 20 years and a seamen for 30, said he would have preferred to evacuate everyone aboard the lifeboats, but this proved impossible in the high winds and heavy seas.
.
The ship then began listing as flooding gained on the pumps, making it impossible to launch the lifeboats, he said.
.
Once the lifeboats had been launched, Captain Avranas said, he hoped that help would come from land, but none did. He said he had wanted other ships in the area to form a windbreak around his stricken vessel so that he could evacuate more passengers by lifeboat, but was unable to organize this.
.
Once the last lifeboat had left, at about 3 A.M. Sunday, those still aboard the Oceanos had to wait until dawn, about 7 A.M., for the first helicopters to arrive. Captain Avranas said people were calm during this period and sang on the deck.
.
While waiting for the helicopters, he said, many plans had run through his mind.
.
"My first concern was to find out if all the people were alive," he said, "because I had heard many stories over the walkie-talkies. I also wanted to make sure of getting help from the other side."
.
Meanwhile, he said, "members of the crew almost killed themselves" to rescue the passengers."
.
Of his critics, Captain Avranas said, "I'm sorry, but I don't think they have ever been on a ship, or know what sea life means."
.
As part of an official inquiry into the incident, Captain Avranas and other crew members have been answering investigators' questions. A spokesman for the Department of Maritime Affairs at the Transport Ministry in Pretoria said a preliminary statement would be issued Thursday.
.
Captain Avranas denied a report that there had been a previous flooding incident aboard the ship last month. Although he has been quoted as saying that the disaster was caused by a thrown piston, he said he did not know what had caused the flooding.
.
"I think it was the best ship I ever had, a very strong ship," he said.
.
In Athens, Joanna Despotopoulou, a spokeswoman for the Epirotiki Lines, the owner of the ship, said the Oceanos had gone into dry dock for a two-month overhaul, following a round-the-world cruise carrying Japanese peace activists. She said the ship had the highest possible safety rating at Lloyd's Register of Shipping.
.
But a member of the family that owns the line was quoted anonymously by The Associated Press as expressing concern that the company had lost three ships in three years.
.
"We're asking ourselves what is happening, that one misfortune follows another," he said.
.
Mrs. Despotopoulou said, however, that there was no connection between the sinking of the Oceanos, a fire aboard the Pegasus, the company flagship, in Venice in June and the sinking of the liner Jupiter in Piraeus three years ago.
The captain of the Greek cruise liner Oceanos said Wednesday he was satisfied that he had carried out his duties effectively in the rescue of all 571 passengers and crew when the ship sank off the coast of South Africa on Sunday, and he added that he could not understand why some passengers were now attacking him.
.
The captain, Yiannis Avranas, denied that he had abandoned ship. He said he had supervised the rescue operation from a helicopter hovering over the sinking vessel after going ashore to reestablish communications.
.
Asked about a report that he had gone into hiding to avoid angry passengers, Captain Avranas replied from his hotel in Durban, South Africa: "Hide? Of course not. Why should I hide myself? I am not a killer. I cannot understand why passengers are upset because they are alive. This is unbelievable." Captain Avranas said he had known when he left the ship some hours before it sank that there were 170 passengers and crew still aboard.
.
But, in a telephone interview, he added that leaving the ship before the passengers - including many elderly people - had been evacuated was the only way that he could ensure the safety of all those aboard.
.
When he left, he said, the ship was in darkness and the batteries on the crew's walkie-talkies had died, meaning that he had no communications with his crew or with other rescue craft. He had no way of knowing what had happened to passengers who had been evacuated aboard lifeboats.
.
He said he had been as concerned about the 400 people who had left the ship as about those who remained aboard.
.
"But no one asked me about this until now," Captain Avranas said. After checking the situation from the shore, he said, he flew back to the ship on a helicopter, intending to go back on board. But the weather was so bad that the helicopter crew advised against boarding. He said he therefore stayed aboard the aircraft while remaining passengers and crew were winched off the ship. He said he stayed until he was sure that the ship was completely evacuated and that all the lifeboats had been accounted for.
.
Asked about the maritime tradition that the captain stays with his ship, Captain Avranas said: "That is correct - he must stay and be sure that everybody is safe. And that I did. I did not allow anything else to cross my mind."
.
Speaking hoarsely and in halting English, Captain Avranas said he did not understand why reports in the South African and international press had been so hostile. He added that rather than seeking out his version of events, local reporters had allowed their imaginations to run wild.
.
"I never spoke with any of these newspapers," he said. "They write these things because they don't understand or they don't want to understand."
.
Asked to comment on a report in the Cape Times that he had pushed an elderly woman out of the way in order to board a helicopter, the captain said the account was "imagination."
.
"Of course it is not true," he said.
.
"From my point of view, the rescue was perfect," he said. "Maybe in the last moments it did not go according to my plans, but this does not mean I am guilty."
.
Captain Avranas, 51, who has been an officer for 20 years and a seamen for 30, said he would have preferred to evacuate everyone aboard the lifeboats, but this proved impossible in the high winds and heavy seas.
.
The ship then began listing as flooding gained on the pumps, making it impossible to launch the lifeboats, he said.
.
Once the lifeboats had been launched, Captain Avranas said, he hoped that help would come from land, but none did. He said he had wanted other ships in the area to form a windbreak around his stricken vessel so that he could evacuate more passengers by lifeboat, but was unable to organize this.
.
Once the last lifeboat had left, at about 3 A.M. Sunday, those still aboard the Oceanos had to wait until dawn, about 7 A.M., for the first helicopters to arrive. Captain Avranas said people were calm during this period and sang on the deck.
.
While waiting for the helicopters, he said, many plans had run through his mind.
.
"My first concern was to find out if all the people were alive," he said, "because I had heard many stories over the walkie-talkies. I also wanted to make sure of getting help from the other side."
.
Meanwhile, he said, "members of the crew almost killed themselves" to rescue the passengers."
.
Of his critics, Captain Avranas said, "I'm sorry, but I don't think they have ever been on a ship, or know what sea life means."
.
As part of an official inquiry into the incident, Captain Avranas and other crew members have been answering investigators' questions. A spokesman for the Department of Maritime Affairs at the Transport Ministry in Pretoria said a preliminary statement would be issued Thursday.
.
Captain Avranas denied a report that there had been a previous flooding incident aboard the ship last month. Although he has been quoted as saying that the disaster was caused by a thrown piston, he said he did not know what had caused the flooding.
.
"I think it was the best ship I ever had, a very strong ship," he said.
.
In Athens, Joanna Despotopoulou, a spokeswoman for the Epirotiki Lines, the owner of the ship, said the Oceanos had gone into dry dock for a two-month overhaul, following a round-the-world cruise carrying Japanese peace activists. She said the ship had the highest possible safety rating at Lloyd's Register of Shipping.
.
But a member of the family that owns the line was quoted anonymously by The Associated Press as expressing concern that the company had lost three ships in three years.
.
"We're asking ourselves what is happening, that one misfortune follows another," he said.
.
Mrs. Despotopoulou said, however, that there was no connection between the sinking of the Oceanos, a fire aboard the Pegasus, the company flagship, in Venice in June and the sinking of the liner Jupiter in Piraeus three years ago.
The captain of the Greek cruise liner Oceanos said Wednesday he was satisfied that he had carried out his duties effectively in the rescue of all 571 passengers and crew when the ship sank off the coast of South Africa on Sunday, and he added that he could not understand why some passengers were now attacking him.
.
The captain, Yiannis Avranas, denied that he had abandoned ship. He said he had supervised the rescue operation from a helicopter hovering over the sinking vessel after going ashore to reestablish communications.
.
Asked about a report that he had gone into hiding to avoid angry passengers, Captain Avranas replied from his hotel in Durban, South Africa: "Hide? Of course not. Why should I hide myself? I am not a killer. I cannot understand why passengers are upset because they are alive. This is unbelievable." Captain Avranas said he had known when he left the ship some hours before it sank that there were 170 passengers and crew still aboard.
.
But, in a telephone interview, he added that leaving the ship before the passengers - including many elderly people - had been evacuated was the only way that he could ensure the safety of all those aboard.
.
When he left, he said, the ship was in darkness and the batteries on the crew's walkie-talkies had died, meaning that he had no communications with his crew or with other rescue craft. He had no way of knowing what had happened to passengers who had been evacuated aboard lifeboats.
.
He said he had been as concerned about the 400 people who had left the ship as about those who remained aboard.
.
"But no one asked me about this until now," Captain Avranas said. After checking the situation from the shore, he said, he flew back to the ship on a helicopter, intending to go back on board. But the weather was so bad that the helicopter crew advised against boarding. He said he therefore stayed aboard the aircraft while remaining passengers and crew were winched off the ship. He said he stayed until he was sure that the ship was completely evacuated and that all the lifeboats had been accounted for.
.
Asked about the maritime tradition that the captain stays with his ship, Captain Avranas said: "That is correct - he must stay and be sure that everybody is safe. And that I did. I did not allow anything else to cross my mind."
.
Speaking hoarsely and in halting English, Captain Avranas said he did not understand why reports in the South African and international press had been so hostile. He added that rather than seeking out his version of events, local reporters had allowed their imaginations to run wild.
.
"I never spoke with any of these newspapers," he said. "They write these things because they don't understand or they don't want to understand."
.
Asked to comment on a report in the Cape Times that he had pushed an elderly woman out of the way in order to board a helicopter, the captain said the account was "imagination."
.
"Of course it is not true," he said.
.
"From my point of view, the rescue was perfect," he said. "Maybe in the last moments it did not go according to my plans, but this does not mean I am guilty."
.
Captain Avranas, 51, who has been an officer for 20 years and a seamen for 30, said he would have preferred to evacuate everyone aboard the lifeboats, but this proved impossible in the high winds and heavy seas.
.
The ship then began listing as flooding gained on the pumps, making it impossible to launch the lifeboats, he said.
.
Once the lifeboats had been launched, Captain Avranas said, he hoped that help would come from land, but none did. He said he had wanted other ships in the area to form a windbreak around his stricken vessel so that he could evacuate more passengers by lifeboat, but was unable to organize this.
.
Once the last lifeboat had left, at about 3 A.M. Sunday, those still aboard the Oceanos had to wait until dawn, about 7 A.M., for the first helicopters to arrive. Captain Avranas said people were calm during this period and sang on the deck.
.
While waiting for the helicopters, he said, many plans had run through his mind.
.
"My first concern was to find out if all the people were alive," he said, "because I had heard many stories over the walkie-talkies. I also wanted to make sure of getting help from the other side."
.
Meanwhile, he said, "members of the crew almost killed themselves" to rescue the passengers."
.
Of his critics, Captain Avranas said, "I'm sorry, but I don't think they have ever been on a ship, or know what sea life means."
.
As part of an official inquiry into the incident, Captain Avranas and other crew members have been answering investigators' questions. A spokesman for the Department of Maritime Affairs at the Transport Ministry in Pretoria said a preliminary statement would be issued Thursday.
.
Captain Avranas denied a report that there had been a previous flooding incident aboard the ship last month. Although he has been quoted as saying that the disaster was caused by a thrown piston, he said he did not know what had caused the flooding.
.
"I think it was the best ship I ever had, a very strong ship," he said.
.
In Athens, Joanna Despotopoulou, a spokeswoman for the Epirotiki Lines, the owner of the ship, said the Oceanos had gone into dry dock for a two-month overhaul, following a round-the-world cruise carrying Japanese peace activists. She said the ship had the highest possible safety rating at Lloyd's Register of Shipping.
.
But a member of the family that owns the line was quoted anonymously by The Associated Press as expressing concern that the company had lost three ships in three years.
.
"We're asking ourselves what is happening, that one misfortune follows another," he said.
.
Mrs. Despotopoulou said, however, that there was no connection between the sinking of the Oceanos, a fire aboard the Pegasus, the company flagship, in Venice in June and the sinking of the liner Jupiter in Piraeus three years ago.

Statistics on the Oceanos

Oceanos

For the Latin word for the ocean see Oceanus
Oceanos

Launched: 12 July 1952
Status: Sunk
Tonnage: 14,000 gross tons
Length: 152,5m/500ft
Breath: 20m/65ft
Draft: 6,70m/22ft
Speed: Max:18.5 Cruise:16 knots
Decks:
Complement: 550 passengers, 250 crew
Registry: Greece

MTS Oceanos was a Greek owned cruise ship which sunk off the South African east coast. The Oceanos started its life as the Jean Laborde. The Jean Laborde was the last of 4 sister ships built for Messageries Maritimes in Bordeaux, France.

The class, a twin screw design, were designed for use on the Marseilles - Madagascar - Mauritius service. The Jean Laborde went through many different owners and name changes (Jean Laborde, Mykinai, Ancona, Eastern Princess, Oceanos) until she was acquired by Epirotiki Lines of Greece in 1976.

The Epirotiki Lines put her to good use for many years in the Mediterranean and in 1988; they sent the Oceanos to South Africa where she successfully completed her first cruise season but only to returned in 1991.

On Saturday 3 August 1991, the Oceanos set sail from East London with 571 passengers and crew en-route to Durban. While trying to make up time due to a delayed start because of a bomb threat, the ship encounted rough seas. Earlier repairs to the waste disposal system had not been completed which meant that a vital ventilation pipe which runs through the watertight aft bulkhead and the non-return values were not replaced.

Passengers reported that about 09.30 pm, a muffled explosion was heard and the ship lost power. The Oceanos started taking in water rapidly flooding the engine room and cutting power. By the next morning rescuers found the Oceanos listing badly to one side and adrift just off Coffee Bay.

The South African Air Force helicopters started a 7 hour rescue mission taking people off the Oceanos and out of the water. The crew had abandoned the passengers, but all passengers and crew made it off safely.

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopaedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors.

Chat about the Oceanos

In my research I came across 2 sites with message boards which were really interesting and one of them actually has some info from a fellow passenger, here are the links:

http://www.travelserver.net/travelpage/ubb-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=10&t=001062

http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/discus/messages/6937/70480.html?1116015609



I have been trying to load up this picture for the last two days, in relation to my story of the Oceanos in case there was anyone reading it who did not know what table mountain looked like, I finally managed to get it in here.