The burnt-out ROPAX ferry MS Norman Atlantic, owned by the Italian ferry company Visemar di Navigazione, has been raided by thieves, inspectors found.
According to the local media , thieves broke into the wreck and attempted to steal the cars on board the ship, which was moored in Bari, Italy after it caught fire in December 2014.
Inspectors investigating the cause of the fire that took the death toll to 12 people found during their recent visit to the torched vessel that the seals on the wreck had been broken.
As informed, two cars were found parked outside the decks with broken windows and bags of passengers who were airlifted from the ferry at the time of the accident scattered on the floor. The prosecutor believes that the unidentified thieves were targeting valuables that passengers might have left on board as they were rushed off the vessel.
The break-in seems to have gone unnoticed by the private security guards tasked with securing the wreckage.
The attempted theft is being investigated by the authorities in Bari along with the local port representatives.
The Italian-flagged RoRo/passenger ferry caught fire off the coast of Greece in the early hours of Sunday, December 28.
ANEK Lines, the operator of the ferry, said that at the time of the accident, there were 475 people on board.
The vessel was on the Patras – Igoumenitsa – Ancona route, 35 miles north of Corfu, sailing in international waters when the fire broke out.
World Maritime News Staff