Οn 6 October 2015, in the course of the technical investigations procedures on the causes and circumstances of the maritime tragedy of NORMAN ATLANTIC, there has been a meeting in Pisa of the appointed by the court in Bari technical experts, with the presence of our own experts, during which they have succeeded in extracting audio tracks and data from the ship’s VDR. This has been accomplished with the use of a different software than the one that had been used in the previous unsuccessful operations, when access was denied to the audio tracks.
The experts listened to part of the audio tracks, from which issues raised already appear to be confirmed, concerning the drencher system failure, dense smoke presence on car deck no 4 and others. Audio tracks for certain periods of time on the day of the tragedy have been extracted, with satisfactory audio quality. Data of electronic codified data have also been extracted, which will be analyzed by the experts by use of special tools.
This is a positive development in the technical investigation procedure, which undoubtedly is lasting long. We anticipate that the indications and more importantly the proven evidence that will derive from the analysis of these data extracts will contribute to the explanation of the maritime tragedy, will answer many questions, will enable the interested parties to substantiate the liability of those who had the duty to provide a seaworthy and safe ship. The technical investigations are continuing, with the presence of our experts. This is a critical and important stage of the whole case. It is however still early to deduct and express full conclusions.