Bomb hoax forces cruise ship's evacuation

16/06/2006 - 12:24:27
Authorities in the Greek port of Piraeus today safely evacuated a cruise ship with more than 1,000 passengers on board following a bomb threat that proved to be a hoax.

Harbour police officers and divers searched the Greek-flagged Sea Diamond but found no explosives, a port spokesman said.

The vessel had been due to leave Piraeus Friday with 1,025 mostly foreign passengers on a three-day cruise to the Aegean Sea islands and Turkey, a company official said.

The ship, which belongs to Greece’s Louis Hellenic Cruises, was to sail later today.