A 20-year-old cadet was killed on Wednesday aboard the ferry Blue Star Chios after becoming trapped in a sliding watertight door during the ship’s scheduled Rhodes-Piraeus route, Blue Star Ferries confirmed in a statement.
According to state broadcaster ERT, the young crewmember was working as a wiper on the vessel for the last ten days and it was apparently his first job. He held the required basic training certification and had completed onboard familiarization.
The incident occurred as he passed through a watertight door connecting the ro/ro deck to the engine room. The hatch closed while he was transiting and fatally injured him. He was discovered a bit later by fellow crewmembers. They acted immediately to free the young man and administered first aid, but resuscitation attempts were unsuccessful.
Local officials reported that the door had to be manually activated and would normally stop when the actuation lever was released. Standing safety rules required the door to be fully open before passing through. The reason the mechanism continued to close on the cadet remains under investigation.
Greek authorities have opened a criminal case. The master and chief engineer of Blue Star Chios were arrested and charged with manslaughter by negligence.
