Fire Destroys Notorious Italian Ship

The Achille Lauro’s history of misfortune ended in flames Wednesday on the Indian Ocean, where nearly 1,000 passengers and crew fled in lifeboats as the listing cruise ship burned.

At least one death was reported. The Italian cruise ship burned into the night, tilting 40 degrees over to its port side off the coast of Somalia. The captain of a ship that went to the rescue said it might sink.

The Achille Lauro gained notoriety when Palestinian hijackers killed an American passenger in 1985. But its troubled past included the death of an Italian fisherman whose boat was rammed in 1971 and two passengers who drowned trying to escape a 1981 fire.

After fighting Wednesday’s blaze, the last 60 crew members abandoned the vessel and boarded merchant ships helping in the rescue. The 23,478-ton ship was burning and listing badly 130 miles south of the Horn of Africa.

Late Wednesday, Italian Coast Guard officials said everyone aboard was accounted for. Eight people were injured in the fire.

The ship’s owner, Genoa-based Starlauro, said the blaze apparently broke out in the passenger area, but the cause was unknown.

But Dmitrios Skapinkais, the Greek captain of the Treasure Island, said the liner’s captain, who came aboard to use his ship’s radiotelephone, said the fire started in the engine room.

The ship was carrying 581 passengers and 404 crew, a port official in Rome said. Most of the crew was Italian and the passengers mainly South African, German, Dutch and British. Ten Americans were on board--eight crew and a couple that boarded in Genoa. All were reported safe.