Chelsea will finish 2014 as leaders of the Barclays, despite Jose Mourinho’s side toiling to a 1-1 draw at Southampton.

The west Londoners failed to hit their usual impeccable standards at the St Mary’s Stadium, with Southampton displaying their top-four credentials in a battling display. An upset appeared on the cards when Sadio Mane raced through and deftly lift over Thibaut Courtois for his second goal in as many matches. However, a moment of brilliance from Eden Hazard shortly before the break levelled proceedings, as he curled home his seventh league goal of the campaign.

Chelsea pushed hard for a winner after the break but had to settle for a point, despite an 88th-minute red card for Southampton’s Morgan Schneiderlin. A draw ensures Chelsea will top the pile going into 2015, while Southampton hit back by avoiding defeat against a top side after recent losses to Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United.

Dusan Tadic, one of four Southampton changes from the 3-1 beating of Crystal Palace on Boxing Day, tested Chelsea early with a shot from distance that went well wide. The Serbia winger played an influential role as the hosts moved ahead in the 16th minute. His expertly dinked through-ball caught John Terry flat-footed and the Chelsea captain was left trailing in Mane’s wake as the Senegal winger sprung the offside trap and kept his cool to lift the ball over Courtois.

Chelsea made just three alterations to the team who beat West Ham on Friday and did not take long to show their talent, dominating the majority of possession, but they spurned chances in the final third. However, the visitors restored parity on the stroke of half-time with a fine finish from Hazard.

Fabregas showed great vision to play a delicate chip into the path of Hazard in the left channel, who cut inside Belgium team-mate Toby Alderweireld and bent a fierce shot into the far corner.

Fabregas was again involved 10 minutes after the break when he went down in the penalty area trying to go past full-back Targett, who was making his first league start in place of Chelsea loanee Ryan Bertrand, and referee Anthony Taylor deemed it a dive and booked the Spaniard.

The visitors continued to press and Fabregas again teed up Hazard on the hour but this time he flashed wide of the right post, while Didier Drogba was introduced to add muscle to Chelsea’s attack.

However, for all the visitors’ pressure a clear-cut opportunity never materialised and even when Schneiderlin received a second yellow card and subsequent red for hacking down Fabregras on the halfway line Chelsea could not find a way through, missing the chance to keep daylight between themselves and Manchester City.

Southampton manager Ronald Koeman: “One point against Chelsea may be three points against another opponent. I’m proud of the players, the organisation and the spirit in the team. We knew it would be difficult, but the boys were fantastic. We had some difficult moments, but we kept the organisation. We were maybe a bit lucky at times. but if you don’t have luck against these teams you don’t get a good result.

“We played until the last second with the organisation and the spirit was unbelievable. The difference was we didn’t make stupid mistakes like we did against City and United. The second half was more difficult, they had more possession in the second half.”

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho: “I can believe Southampton defended with everything they have. [They played] with organisation, spirit and solidarity of players and the effort they fought to get the point.”

source: premierleague.com

A rescue effort aimed at helping dozens of passengers, including many Greeks, off a ferry stranded in the Adriatic Sea near Corfu was continuing on Sunday night in treacherous conditions.

Merchant Marine Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis said on Sunday evening that one Greek had died amid the rescue attempts. Authorities named him as Yiorgos Doulis, a passenger.

Around 165 people had been helped to safety by 7 p.m. Greek time from the Norman Atlantic, which ran into problems in the early hours of the morning when a fire broke out on board. Many of those rescued were airlifted and four Italian and Greek helicopter crews were due to work through the night to continue transferring passengers to safety.

“We are making superhuman efforts in this extremely difficult operation,» Greek coast guard spokesman Nikos Lagkadianos said. «Operations by air will continue throughout the night.”

More than 300 passengers and crew remained on board at around 7 p.m. Greek, Italian and Albanian coast guard boats, as well as commercial vessels, were helping in the rescue attempt, which was hampered by gale force winds. A tugboat was due to attempt to tow the 26,900-ton to a nearby port.

The Italian-flagged Norman Atlantic had set sail from the Greek port of Patra and was travelling to Ancona in Italy, via Igoumenitsa in northwestern Greece. Authorities said that of the 478 people on board, 268 were Greek.

The roll-on roll-off ferry had been chartered by Greek ferry company ANEK. According to marine traffic data, it was built in 2009 and previously operated in Italy.

A document made public yesterday suggested that safety checks carried out by port authorities in Patra on December 19 found that some of the vessels safety features were malfunctioning or missing. An ANEK spokesman insisted the ferry had all the necessary safety documentation.

source: ekathimerini.com

Ένας έλληνας επιβάτης είναι νεκρός, την ώρα που βρίσκεται σε εξέλιξη η δραματική επιχείρηση διάσωσης των επιβαινόντων από το φλεγόμενο οχηματαγωγό πλοίο Norman Atlantic.

Πρόκειται για τον Γιώργο Δούλη.

Σύμφωνα με τα όσα έχουν γίνει γνωστά, ο άνδρας βρέθηκε στη γλίστρα του πλοίου μαζί με τη σύζυγό του, Θεοδώρα, κατά την επιχείρηση εκκένωσης.

Υπό αδιευκρίνιστες συνθήκες ο άνδρας έχασε τη ζωή του, ενώ η γυναίκα βρισκόταν επί ώρες εγκλωβισμένη στη γλίστρα.

Η γυναίκα διασώθηκε από την ιταλική ακτοφυλακή και μεταφέρθηκε στο Πρίντεζι, μαζί με τη σορό του άνδρα της.

Πηγή:in.gr

Plane carrying 162 people missing after pilots requested route change to avoid bad weather

Indonesia has halted the search for a missing AirAsia plane as darkness fell on Sunday and will resume the operation in the morning, the national search and rescue agency said.

Tatang Zaenuddin of the National Search and Rescue agency said the search operation would resume at 6 am on Monday.

The AirAsia plane carrying 162 people went missing on Sunday after the pilots asked to change course to avoid bad weather during a flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.

Indonesia AirAsia Flight QZ8501, an Airbus 320-200, lost contact with Jakarta air traffic control at 6.17am (11.17pm Irish time), officials said.

“The aircraft was on the submitted flight plan route and was requesting deviation due to en route weather before communication with the aircraft was lost,“ the airline said in a statement.

No distress signal had been sent, said Joko Muryo Atmodjo, air transportation director at Indonesia’s transport ministry.

Indonesia AirAsia said there were 155 passengers and seven crew on board. It said 156 were Indonesian, with three from South Korea and one each from Singapore, Malaysia and France.

Singapore, Malaysia and Australia had offered to help in the search. Malaysia said it was sending vessels and a C130 aircraft while Singapore had also sent a C130, officials said.

Indonesia AirAsia is 49 per cent owned by Malaysia-based budget carrier AirAsia, with local investors holding the rest. The AirAsia group, including affiliates in Thailand, the Philippines and India, has not had a crash since its Malaysian budget operations began in 2002.

Flight QZ8501 was between the Indonesian port of Tanjung Pandan and the town of Pontianak, in West Kalimantan province on Borneo island, when it went missing, Atmodjo told a news conference in Jakarta.

The aircraft had been flying at 32,000 feet and had asked to fly at 38,000 feet to avoid clouds, he added.

Tanjung Pandan is the main town on Belitung island, roughly half way between Surabaya and Singapore. There was bad weather over the island at the time.

The flying time from Surabaya to Singapore is usually just over two hours. The plane had been due in Singapore at 8.30 am Singapore time.

In both Surabaya and Singapore, anxious relatives of people on the plane awaited news.

“I should have been on the flight together with my friends,” a man named Purnomo told TVOne in Surabaya.

“We, seven people, had planned to go to Singapore for vacation but this morning I had an emergency. I had my passport in hand but had to cancel the trip.“

An Indonesian woman at Singapore’s Changi Airport said her sister and other family members, including two children, were on board.

“No one has told us anything. We heard the news and came to the airport,” the woman said before entering a cordoned-off area.

The airline said the captain and first officer were both experienced.

Tony Fernandes, chief of Malaysia’s AirAsia, said he was heading to Surabaya with his Indonesian management team.

“My only thought are with the passengers and my crew. We put our hope in the SAR (search and rescue) operation and thank the Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysian governments,” he said on Twitter.

The incident comes at the end of a disastrous year for the region’s airlines.

Malaysia’s national flag carrier, Malaysia Airlines, lost two aircraft this year.

Flight MH370 went missing on March 8th on a trip from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew on board and has still not been found.

On July 17, Flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board.

Indonesia AirAsia has a fleet of 30 Airbus A320s. The missing plane has been in service for just over six years, according to airfleets.net.

All AirAsia-branded airlines operate aircraft made by Airbus, which has orders for several hundred planes from the group. AirAsia is considered one of the European planemaker’s most important customers.

On boad: Briton Nick Channing-Williams with his fiance Regina Theoffili

Two Britons are trapped on board a burning ferry as rescue services battle gale force winds and high seas in a bid to save them.

Almost 500 passengers and crew are facing a desperate race against time as they are airlifted two by two from the blazing decks.

As tugs and other small boats fire plumes of water in a bid to douse the flames, there are fears the ferry will sink before all are safe.

A cook on board has managed to phone his wife.

She told Greek journalists her husband told her: “I cannot breathe, we are all going to burn like rats – God save us.”

And a passenger told a Greek TV station: “On the lower deck, where the lifeboats are, our shoes were starting to melt from the heat.”

One man was killed when he plunged into the raging sea to escape the doomed ship. His body was later pulled from the water.

Anxious British mum Dotty Channing-Williams said her son Nicholas, who lives in Greece, was on board the Norman Atlantic with his fiancee Regina.

She spoke to him by telephone when the fire broke out, but later lost contact.

“People in Greece are saying that their communications have been cut off, so as not to hamper rescue operations which I can fully understand,” she said.

“They’re keeping me updated via the news coming over the Greek television. But nevertheless it is very, very worrying and very scary.

“So I just hope that they will be able to get everybody off there as soon as possible.”

She said she had spoken to officials at the Home Office but had not had any direct contact with those in charge of the rescue operation.

When she spoke to her son he had been standing on the ferry’s top deck for seven hours “in the rain and thunder and lightning”.

He had begged his friends on the Greek mainland not to tell his mum of the drama because he did not want to worry her.

On fire: Norman Atlantic burns in waters off Greece

Mr Channing-Williams, 37, is one of two British nationals believed to have boarded the Italian-flagged Norman Atlantic.

The fire broke out early today on the car deck of the vessel as it sailed from the Greek port of Patras to Ancona, Italy, with 422 passengers and 56 crew on board.

British Ambassador to Greece John Kittmer said on Twitter: “We understand from the passenger manifest that two British nationals are believed to be on board.

“We are in close contact with the Greek authorities and are urgently seeking more information.

“We understand that the Greek authorities are working with the Italians, who are leading the rescue effort.”

Mr Channing-Williams, nicknamed “The Horseman” is a competitive show jumper and trains young riders in Greece.

His frightened mother Dotty, from Berkshire, said her son was taking a trip with his 33-year-old Greek fiancee Regina Theoffili.

“It’s hard, because I haven’t heard anything for a long time now,” she said.

She said her son’s friends and colleagues were watching Greek media for updates and keeping her up to date.

Mrs Channing-Williams last spoke to him directly at 11am today.

“He was really good, but then he would be. He wouldn’t want to worry me,” she said.

“As I got up and saw the television news this morning, which was early, I knew. I knew straight away. I knew that he was on that ferry,” she said.

“I know that he was in touch with the people in Greece and he said to them, ‘Please don’t tell my mum, because she’ll be so worried.’ … And then he called me to let me know that he’s okay and that Regina’s okay.”

She said she had spoken with officials but was relying on media reports for updates.

“I told him it’s just so difficult because there’s no information” she said.

“He said Regina’s been amazing, she’s amazing in a crisis. She’s incredibly calm.

“She was going and talking to people, and saying it’s going to be all right.

The ship was packed with holidaymakers and truck drivers making the popular transport run between Greece and Italy.

Of those on board, 234 passengers and 34 crew were Greek.

 Italian and Greek rescue helicopters struggled to reach the ferry as they were battered by 55mph winds.

Men, women and children were lifted two at a time from the vessel and a lifeboat with room for carrying about 150 passengers was lowered into the water.

Greek Merchant Marine Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis said: “ We are doing everything we can to save those on board and no one, no one will be left helpless in this tough situation.

“It is one of the most complicated rescue operations that we have ever done.”

Greek authorities sent five helicopters and a military transport plane to help the evacuation and Albanian rescuers also joined the operation.

The Norman Atlantic, which was also carrying more than 200 vehicles, was 44 nautical miles northwest of the island of Corfu when it radioed for help.

source: mirror.co.uk

Οι προσευχές όλης της Ελλάδας συνοδεύουν τους 437 επιβάτες του πλοίου Norman Altantic (ναυπήγησης του 2009) που παραμένουν στο πλοίο και περιμένουν να σωθούν. Τα ξημερώματα της Κυριακής και ενώ το πλοίο, που είχε αποπλεύσει από την Ηγουμενίτσα, βρισκόταν ανοιχτά της Κέρκυρας, ξέσπασε φωτιά στο γκαράζ και γρήγορα επεκτάθηκε και σε άλλους χώρους.

Ήταν 4:00 τα ξημερώματα όταν ξέσπασε η φωτιά, ενώ λίγο αργότερα σήμανε ο συναγερμός και οι επιβάτες βγήκαν από τις καμπίνες τους. Κάποιοι κατάφεραν να μπουν σε σωστικές λέμβους, άλλοι –σύμφωνα με πληροφορίες- μέσα στον πανικό τους έπεσαν στη θάλασσα και οι περισσότεροι έμειναν στο κατάστρωμα. Ανάμεσα στους επιβάτες που παραμένουν στο πλοίο είναι παιδιά, γυναίκες και ηλικωμένοι.

Σύμφωνα τον υπουργό Ναυτιλίας, Μιλτιάδη Βαρβιτσιώτη στο πλοίο βρίσκονταν 478 επιβαίνοντες, ενώ σύμφωνα με το ΥΕΝ οι επιβάτες είναι 411 και το πλήρωμα 56μελές.
Ανάμεσα στους επιβάτες είναι 268 Έλληνες και οι υπόλοιποι αλλοδαποί, κυρίως Τούρκοι, ενώ το πλήρωμα αποτελείται από 22 Ιταλούς και 34 Έλληνες. Ο καπετάνιος του πλοίου είναι Ιταλός.

“Έχει τσακίσει η ψυχολογία μας. Ο καιρός αγριεύει και τα πλοία δεν μπορούν να προσεγγίσουν” είπε σε δραματικούς τόνους στο NewsIt ο Αλέξανδρος Βενιέρης, οδηγός ενός από τα φορτηγά που ταξίδευαν με το πλοίο. Όπως είπε, η φωτιά παραμένει σε εξέλιξη και όλοι προσεύχονται να κοπάσουν οι θυελλώδεις άνεμοι για να μπορέσουν τα πλοία να τους σώσουν.
43 από τους επιβάτες που κατάφεραν να μπουν σε σωστικές λέμβους έχουν ήδη διασωθεί από το φορτηγό πλοίο Spirit of Pireus. Συνολικά σε σωστικές λέμβους είχαν μπει τουλάχιστον 150.

Το πλοίο βρίσκεται περίπου 30 ναυτικά μίλια έξω από τους Οθωνούς. Στην περιοχή οι καιρικές συνθήκες είναι κάκιστες, με τους νότιους ανέμους να φτάνουν τα 8 με 10 μποφόρ και να κάνουν ακόμη πιο δύσκολο το γιγάντιο έργο της διάσωσης.

Κάνουν κλοιό

Τον συντονισμό της επιχείρησης διάσωσης έχουν αναλάβει οι ιταλικές αρχές, ενώ οι ελληνικές λειτουργούν βοηθητικά, καθώς το πλοίο είναι πιο κοντά στις ιταλικές αρχές.

Στο σημείο έχουν σπεύσει επτά πλοία, τα οποία έχουν δημιουργήσει τείχος προστασίας από τα κύματα, ώστε να μην παρασυρθεί καμία από τις σωσίβες λέμβους αλλά και να γίνει πιο δυνατή η προσέγγιση του πλοίου.

Στην περιοχή σπεύδει ένα πυροσβεστικό σκάφος από την Ηγουμενίτσα, πέντε ελικόπτερα, εκ των οποίων δυο Sikorsky του Πολεμικού Ναυτικού, τρία Agusta Belly της Πολεμικής Αεροπορίας και 1 C130. Επίσης, στο σημείο σπεύδει ρυμουλκό πλοίο και πυροσβεστικά σκάφη, δύο από την Ιταλία.

Επίσης, εντολή να συμμετάσχουν στην επιχείρησης διάσωσης έχουν πάρει άλλο ένα ελικόπτερο S-70 Aegean Hawk του Πολεμικού Ναυτικού και η φρεγάτα ΝΑΒΑΡΙΝΟ.

Όπως δήλωσε ο εκπρόσωπος τύπου του Αρχηγείου του Λιμενικού Σώματος, Νίκος Λαγκαδιανός “υπάρχουν 8 παραπλέοντα πλοία, 2 ρυμουλκά έχουν ξεκινήσει από Πύλο και Κέρκυρα, 2 πυροσβεστικά σκάφη έχουν ξεκινήσει από Ηγουμενίτσα και Πάτρα και ένα ρυμουλκό από την Ιταλία.
Ένα αεροσκάφος C130 βρίσκεται στην περιοχή και 5 ελικόπτερα είναι σε ετοιμότητα στην Κέρκυρα και το Άκτιο, επίσης ένα σούπερ – πούμα είναι έτοιμο να προσεγγίσει το πλοίο όταν το επιτρέψει ο καιρός.
Από τους 478 επιβαίνοντες (επιβάτες και πλήρωμα) οι 150 βρίσκονται σε σωστική λέμβο του φλεγόμενου πλοίου και από τους οποίους ήδη οι 42 έχουν παραληφθεί από το φορτηγό πλοίο Spirit of Pireus.
Oι Έλληνες συνολικά είναι 234 επιβάτες και 34 άτομα πλήρωμα”.

Επί ποδός για να παράσχουν τις πρώτες βοήθειες στους διασωθέντες είναι από νωρίς το πρωί οι αρχές της Κέρκυρας και της Ηγουμενίτσας.

Ένα δεξαμενόπλοιο και ένα σκάφος της ιταλικής ακτοφυλακής ερευνούν τα σωστικά βαρελάκια που ρίχτηκαν στη θάλασσα και παρασύρθηκαν από την αέρα μήπως σε κάποια από αυτά βρίσκονται κάποιος επιβάτης.

Το χρονικό

Η φωτιά στο πλοίο που εκτελούσε το δρομολόγιο Ηγουμενίτσα – Ανκόνα εκδηλώθηκε τα ξημερώματα σε ένα από τα γκαράζ του, υπό αδιευκρίνιστη αιτία, ενώ σύμφωνα το Ενιαίο Κέντρο Έρευνας και Διάσωσης του υπουργείου Ναυτιλίας και Αιγαίου, στη θαλάσσια περιοχή όπου βρίσκεται το «Νorman Αtlantic» επικρατούν νότιοι άνεμοι 7 με 8 μποφόρ με βροχόπτωση και ομίχλη.

Το πλοίο που είχε αναχωρήσει στις 5:30 το απόγευμα από την Πάτρα με προορισμό την Ιταλία, μέσω Ηγουμενίτσας, με 125 φορτηγά, 3 λεωφορεία, 84 ΙΧ, 3 αυτοκινούμενα και μία μηχανή.

Η ανακοίνωση της ΑΝΕΚ

Το υπό ιταλική σημαία πλοίο, που ναυπηγήθηκε το 2009, είχε ναυλώνει η ΑΝΕΚ. Η εταιρία αναφέρει σε ανακοίνωσή της:

“Τις πρώτες πρωινές ώρες της 28ης-12-2014 σημειώθηκε πυρκαγιά στο ιταλικής πλοιοκτησίας και σημαίας επιβατικό – οχηματαγωγό πλοίο “NORMAN ATLANTIC” της εταιρείας “VISEMAR di Navigazione S.R.l.”, ναυλωμένο από την εταιρεία ΑΝΕΚ Α.Ε., το οποίο εκτελούσε την δρομολογιακή γραμμή Πάτρα – Ηγουμενίτσα – Ανκόνα και ενώ βρισκόταν 35 μίλια βόρεια της Κέρκυρας, στα διεθνή χωρικά ύδατα.

Στο πλοίο επέβαιναν 422 επιβάτες και 56 άτομα πλήρωμα.
Σε εξέλιξη ευρίσκεται η επιχείρηση εκκένωσης του πλοίου από το πλήρωμα του πλοίου και την πλοιοκτήτρια εταιρία σε συνεργασία με τις αρμόδιες ιταλικές και ελληνικές αρχές. Η εταιρεία θα επανέλθει με κάθε νεώτερη πληροφορία”.

Ανακοίνωση του Υπ. Εμπορικής Ναυτιλίας:

Η οργάνωση της επιχείρησης έχει περάσει στη Ρώμη. Τα δεσμευμένα παραπλέοντα πλοία, παραμένουν για να συνδράμουν.
Έχουν ξεκινήσει δύο ρυμουλκά, δύο πυροσβεστικά κι ένα ρουμουλκό από την Ιταλία. Ένα αεροσκάφος C130 ένα ελικόπτερο Super Puma, για να συνδράμει όταν το επιτρέψουν οι συνθήκες.
Σημειώνεται ότι 150 άτομα έχουν ήδη μετεπιβιβαστεί σε άλλα πλοία. Από τους επιβαίνοντες, οι 234 είναι Έλληνες και 34 οι Έλληνες που ανήκουν στο πλήρωμα.
Στην περιοχή είναι πολύ δύσκολες οι συνθήκες.

Πηγή: madata.gr