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| Durres Port |
280 ferry passengers have spent three hours of anxiety on the open Sea last night on board of the ship Rigel 1.
Port Captain Taulant Allka suggested that a problem with the control package within the Durrës-Bari ferry caused the black out of the ferry at 3:00 am. The captain has manually ignited one of the engines bringing electricity to the traumatized passengers.The Captain of the Ferry was staying for about 3 hours on open Sea until it was possible the cooling of the engines in order to intervene in repairing the defect in the control system, but the weather has been also an obstacle. As a result of the strong wind the ferry was shifted toward Bari, while last night departed from Bari toward Durrës.
The problem caused the passengers to stay on Sea until the engine is repaired, some of which have denounced this to the Italian authorities. "Guardia di Finanza" and the Italian Coast Guard have been on the alert to intervene in case of drowning. At about 6 o'clock in the morning, the ferry begun to move after the repair of the fault. It is expected that the ferry will be anchored at 16 o'clock in the port of Durres with the 280 passengers and 40 vehicles in it.
The General Marine Directorate of Albania has reacted to this event through a statement to the media.
"The Rigel I ferry from Ventouris Ferries is departed from Bari in the direction of Durres at 23:00. After leaving the port Bari, 4 hours after there was a defect in the control panel which was heated and did not performed some commands. In these conditions the ferry lacked the air conditioning. The ferry moved toward the Italian waters for safety and after 3 hours the defect has been repaired the ferry continued the route to the port of Durres. Since receiving the information at 3 pm, the Port of Durres followed the situation and communicated with the captain if Rigel I, informing about the ferry condition. As soon as the ferry arrive at the port of Durres, the General Marine Directorate will send the Port State Control Group to inspect the ferry and its technical condition."