http://greece.greekreporter.com/2017/09/12/heartbreaking-images-after-environmental-disaster-in-salamis-island/
There are number of questions - the owners claimed the ship was seaworthy but seaworthy ships do not sink in "mild" weather.
They also do not only have only 2 out of 11 crew on board.....
http://www.ekathimerini.com./221649/article/ekathimerini/news/sunken-tanker-had-not-been-cleared-to-sail-register-says
http://www.ekathimerini.com./221768/article/ekathimerini/news/bid-to-clean-up-greek-tanker-oil-spillage-is-beset-by-problems
During a televised cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras defended his government’s handling of the crisis while also acknowledging citizens’ concerns about the extent and impact of the pollution.
He underlined the need for “deep reforms” to the system under which licenses are issued deeming vessels to be seaworthy “so that we can more effectively protect the great wealth of our country that is its natural, including marine, environment.”
Any one who thinks bits of paper are any guarantee of seaworthiness is a fool: they are not. All they show is that in the relatively short period in which any inspection is performed the inspectors did not find anything sufficiently wrong to justify refusal to issue certificates....
....that is assuming those who inspect are capable.
http://www.ekathimerini.com/221715/article/ekathimerini/news/agia-zoni-oil-spill-was-an-accident-waiting-to-happen-experts-say
The Agia Zoni II tanker sunk in the Saronic Gulf near the island of Salamina on Sunday and experts have slammed relevant authorities tasked with supervision of the ship’s seaworthiness.
The 45-year-old tanker, they say, should not have been allowed to conduct high-risk operations such as bunkering as it was too old, and had not undergone proper inspections by relevant maritime experts.
The Agia Zoni II went down in mild weather while at anchor with a cargo of 2,500 tons of fuel that leaked and spread to the coasts of Salamina and southern Athens, covering dozens of kilometers of coastline in foul-smelling gunk.
Regardless of the causes of the sinking, the ship should not have been at sea, experts insisted on Friday.
According to the Equasis database, the reputable Norwegian register DNV-GL had identified 10 serious infringements by the Agia Zoni in 2008.
This prompted its owner to withdraw it from the Norwegian register and place it under the Greek legal framework, which stipulated that its seaworthiness would be monitored by Shipping Ministry inspectors.
The certification of seaworthiness granted by Greek inspectors expired in July of this year and its owner – a group of companies linked to the Kountouris family – received a two-month extension.
However, experts say the Greek state has neither the workforce nor the means to conduct specialized checks on old ships of this type.
According to a statement on Thursday by the maritime workers’ union PEMEN, the ship was “extremely dangerous to safe navigation.”
“The engine room where it started taking on water had been roughly patched up in order to close gaping holes,” PEMEN claimed.
Furthermore, the Hellenic Register of Shipping announced on Thursday that the tanker had not been inspected and does not have any certificates issued by the Hellenic Register of Shipping.
And those who rely on the tourist trade to those beaches are looking at losing a lot of money.
Tragic.
