The Norman Atlantic is leaving Brindisi to be towed to Bari

Brindisi - In the coming days, the wreck of the Norman Atlantic ferry will be towed from Brindisi to the port of Bari. It will dock at Wharf Number 12. The public prosecutor notified the ship’s owner, Carlo Visentini today that he will be named the ship’s new judicial custodian, to take effect as soon as the ship leaves the port of Brindisi. The Port Authority of Brindisi was the previous custodian. Nine people died and another 19 were lost at sea in the shipwreck, which occurred off the coast of Albania on 28th December.

Carlo Visentini, the owner of the Norman Atlantic, accompanied by his lawyers Filiberto Palumbo and Gaetano Castellaneta, was received today by public prosecutors Ettore Cardinali and Federico Perrone Capano, who are responsible for the dossier concerning the shipwreck, which occurred after a fire on board the ship. Visentini, who has been investigated for negligence along with another six (the captain, two officers, and three people from the Greek company Anek, which rented the ship from Visentini) for causing a ship to wreck, multiple manslaughter and causing injuries, will be the new judicial custodian of the wreck. He will replace the president of Brindisi’s Port Authority, Hercules Haralambides, whose responsibility will be formally revoked as soon as the ship leaves the port of Brindisi for Bari.

The Port Authority of Bari immediately started work to find a quay that would be suitable to receive the wreck: it will be Number 12, the so-called “Sheltered Wharf,” where ferries and cruise ships are docked. The towing of the wreck, which will be organized by the current judicial custodian together with the shipowner, will take place in the coming days. Once the wreck has docked at the port of Bari, it will be the responsibility of the judicial authorities of Bari, which will then be able to empty the ship and begin the investigation on the burned parts of the vessel to find the causes of the fire, and to search for corpses.