Паростың жанындағы "Экспресс Самина" қайығының апатқа ұшырауы (2000)

Greek ferry which sank off the coast of Paros Island (2000)

MS Express Samina (Εξπρές Σάμινα) was a French built RoPax ferry that struck the charted Portes Islets rocks in the Bay of Parikia off the coast of Paros island in the central Aegean Sea on 26 September 2000. The accident resulted in 81 deaths and the loss of the ship. The cause of the accident was crew negligence, for which several members were found criminally liable.

The ship was built as MS Corse in 1966 at Chantiers de l'Atlantique, St Nazaire, France at The wind at the time was on the Beaufort scale. The ship sank close to the islets at 23:02, resulting in the deaths of 80 people from a total of 533 on board. The disaster resulted in two further deaths: on the night of the sinking, the port officer on duty died of a heart attack, and a few weeks later the CEO of the shipping company committed suicide. The first responders to the distress call were fishing boats from the nearby port, followed by the port authorities and Royal Navy vessels, which were in the area carrying out a NATO exercise. The fact that some of the crew did not help the passengers evacuate the sinking ferry contributed to the death toll. said that the damage sustained by the MS Express Samina should not normally sink such a ship. The ship sank because nine of its eleven watertight compartment doors were open even though safety laws require ship operators to close and lock the safety doors. Molyneux described the open watertight doors as the most significant aspect of the sinking. This conclusion was supported by an in depth study of the Ship Design Laboratory – National Technical University of Athens, a summary of which was presented at the 8th International Conference on the Stability of Ships and Ocean Vehicles, (Papanikolaou, A., Spanos, D., Boulougouris, E., Eliopoulou, E., Alissafaki, A., "Investigation Into The Sinking Of The RO RO Passenger Ferry Express Samina").

At 22:15 EEST (19:15 UTC), three minutes after impact, the ship was listing by five degrees to starboard. By 22:25, the list had increased to fourteen degrees and water began to enter the ship through the six metre gash. By 22:29, the ship was listing by twenty three degrees, preventing the launching of additional lifeboats; only three of the eight lifeboats were deployed. At 22:32 the ship had listed by 33 degrees, and by 22:50 the ship lay on its side. The clock on the bridge stopped at 23:02, which the authorities took to be an indication of the time at which the ship sank. In addition to the main cause of the sinking (open watertight doors), He had been charged with criminal negligence in conjunction with this ferry disaster, and had been the focus of much media attention. A subsequent coroner's report revealed alcohol and antidepressants in his system at the time of his death. There was no note, but media reports hinted at a possible call made before he jumped. Several crew members, as well as representatives for the owners, were subsequently charged with different criminal charges, including manslaughter and negligence. The trial commenced in late July 2005. First officer Tassos Psychoyios was sentenced to 19 years, while Captain Vassilis Giannakis received a 16 year sentence. Psychoyios had been watching a football match on television when the ship hit the rocks, according to witnesses. Three crew members were sentenced to between 15 months and 8 years 9 months for a series of misdemeanours that included abandoning ship without the captain's permission. The City of Seattle honoured 26 year old Heidi Hart and 32 year old Christine Shannon, two American passengers, for heroism during the disaster. The women had rescued two men.

The disaster was featured in "Collision Course", a Season 3 (2005) Crash Scene Investigation episode of the Canadian TV series Mayday as well as the third episode of the first season of I Survived