"We were in the lounge watching television , and since I was one of the few who didn't smoke, I told a sailor to go open two portholes to let the air circulate. As the boy opened the first porthole, he said to me, 'Boatswain, it's foggy outside.' So I went to check, and the lights amidships were barely visible, meaning we were in the middle of the fog. I didn't even have time to sit down, and I didn't even make it before the crash happened." These were the words of Vittorio Ruggiero, boatswain of the Agip Abruzzo, heard today by the Moby Prince Commission of Inquiry, regarding the naval disaster in the port of Livorno on April 10, 1991, which claimed 140 lives. These words evoke a possible cause of the massacre that had been ruled out by expert reports and witnesses.
"In no time," he continued, speaking to the Commission, "we were already out with hoses battling the flames that had spread. We had already managed to tame them, but then the flames flared up again and we couldn't contain them."
Then, he continued, "I was given the order to go to the bow to weigh anchor. I went, and the third officer and two or three other people probably went with me to get out of the flames. But we didn't touch anything because we were counter-ordered to go back," and "before I reached the stern, we were given the order to abandon ship; the flames were under the bridge control flap."
The former boatswain then added that he and the other sailors went "to the lifeboat. We were all there, only the captain was missing," who "was at the safe getting some documents to put in a folder. I told a boy to take the books from a box and we saved them."
The boatswain later recalled that he lowered "the lifeboat with the crew on board. I joined them from the gangway," or biscaggina, "then we reached the tugs that took us aboard."
Vittorio Ruggiero, recounting the moments before and immediately after the Moby Prince's impact, during today's hearing before the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry, said that subsequently , "the captain told me to stay in Livorno to secure the ship with the cargo that was on board and needed to be unloaded." While "we were sailing to the ship by motorboat, there was a westerly breeze, and I remember the bow was pointed straight at the gash caused by the impact between the Agip Abruzzo and the Moby Prince."
That fog, the boatswain also said, " wasn't a fog that covered the entire Livorno harbour. There were patches of fog, a patch here, a patch there. This is a phenomenon I've only noticed in Livorno. There wasn't a single patch of fog, but here and there."
During the hearing, boatswain Ruggiero said he recalled hearing that another Agip vessel was at anchor, but couldn't say its exact name—perhaps Agip Napoli. Regarding an incident—which emerged in the past during the reconstruction—of a barge reportedly approaching and then moving away from the Agip Abruzzo, "I can't say because I was in the TV room," but "I should have been notified about any vessel that was due to dock at the Agip Abruzzo. I'm certain I wasn't given any order to dock a barge."
(Unioneonline)
