Text 8. Italian research ship sinks, all passengers safe

Aug 3, 2007

A research ship operated by Italy's National Research Council (CNR) sank in the Mediterranean Sea on Friday after colliding with a merchant vessel amid heavy fog.

Eleven people initially given as missing were eventually rescued by Italy's coast guards, assisted in their search by air force units.

The accident took place about four miles off the coast of Sicily.

Transport Minister Alessandro Bianchi left a cabinet meeting in Rome to follow developments and questioned why the ships' radars had not helped the crew avoid the collision.

The research ship, the Thetis, is 31.5 metres long and carries out research into fisheries, environment and physical oceanography on behalf¹ of CNR.

The other ship involved in the accident, the Heleni, was described by reports as a Panama-registered merchant vessel operating on the Israel.

TERM 6

UNIT 1. Lost at Sea

Text 1. Death of man on ferry negligent

I. Read the text.

Make sure you understand the words below:

liability	responsibility
probability	possibility, chance
gap	hole
gate	door

The High Court¹ has decided that the death of a man who drowned when he fell overboard from the deck of Koningin Beatrix ferry was due to negligence.

Michael Davis, 35, died during a Stena Line² crossing from Rosslare to Fishguard in October 2000.

The firm denies liability and said he must have gone overboard deliberately.

But the judge said Mr Davis's death was caused by the negligence of Stena and of the captain.

About five minutes after Mr Davis went overboard he was seen in the sea by a number of passengers and the alarm was raised. A lifeboat was launched, two rescue helicopters were scrambled and a nearby container ship joined in the search.

About fifty minutes after he had gone overboard, Mr Davis, a well-built man who was a very strong swimmer, was spotted "still very much alive" by a crew member on the container ship.

The judge said the probability was that Mr Davis had lost his footing³ and fallen over the safety rails, or through a gap where an access gate had been left open. Besides, before Mr Davis was spotted, those on the ferry had no clear and carefully prepared plan of rescue.

Vocabulary

negligent	допущенный по небрежности
to drown	тонуть
negligence	небрежность
to deny	отрицать
deliberately	умышленно
judge	судья
alarm	тревога
to scramble	поднимать в воздух (вертолеты) по тревоге
to spot	заметить
safety rails	защитные поручни
access	проход

II. Vocabulary Practice

1. Match the words from column A and column B similar in their meaning.

A	B
spot	a) danger signal
deny	b) go down
drown	c) carelessness
negligence	d) responsibility
alarm	e) refuse
liability	f) notice

2. Match the words in column A with those in column B to form a phrase. Use them in the sentences of your own.

A	B
to fall	a) death
to deny	b) a helicopter
to go	c) overboard
to cause	d) liability
to scramble	e) an alarm
to raise	f) a lifeboat
to launch