CORFU, Greece, Dec. 28 (UPI) -- Rescue operations are underway in the Adriatic Sea, as a hundreds of passengers remain trapped aboard a burning ferry off the coast of Greece.
A Greek-Italian rescue operation was launched early Sunday after the Italian-flagged ferry Norman Atlantic sent out distress signals. Some 150 passengers have been successfully evacuated, but at least 250 remain. Rescue efforts have been severely hindered by choppy seas created by near gale force winds.
Of the 150 passengers successfully lowered into life boats, just 35 have reportedly been lifted into a rescue tanker, the rest forced to ride out the waves until the weather calms. Several merchant vessels have surrounded the Norman Atlantic in an attempt to shield the ferry from the violent winds and heavy seas.
"The weather conditions are so bad we need an extraordinary level of support, which is effectively what is being put in place," Italian Navy spokesman Riccardo Rizzotto told reporters.
The ferry was halted by the fire not far from the Greek island of Corfu, but was reported to be drifting towards the Albanian coast.
Passengers have been phoning TV stations, begging to be saved.
"We are on the top deck, we are soaked, we are cold and we are coughing from the smoke. There are women, children and old people," passenger Giorgos Styliaras told Mega TV. Some reports suggested a few passengers seemed to believe the flames were subsiding, claiming the storm now posed a greater risk.
The ferry, left the port of Patras, Greece, on Sunday morning; it was headed for Ancona, Italy.
