MTS Oceanos

32°07′15″S 29°07′13″E / 32.12083°S 29.12028°E / -32.12083; 29.12028 (Oceanos wreck)

Oceanos in June 1986
History
Name	Oceanos
Namesake	Jean Laborde (as Jean Laborde)
Owner	Epirotiki Lines
Operator	Epirotiki Lines
Port of registry	Piraeus, Greece
Builder	Forges et Chantiers de la Gironde
Yard number	YS267
Laid down	6 March 1951
Launched	12 July 1952
Completed	June 1953
In service	1953-1991
Out of service	4 August 1991
Identification	IMO number: 5170991
Fate	Sunk due to uncontrolled flooding on 4 August 1991 off the coast of South Africa
General characteristics
Type	Cruise ship
Tonnage	14,000 GT
Length	153 m (502 ft)
Beam	20 m (66 ft)
Draft	7 m (23 ft)
Decks	6–9
Speed	18.5 knots (maximum) 16 knots (cruise)
Capacity	550 passengers
Crew	250

MTS Oceanos was a French-built and Greek-owned cruise ship that sank in 1991 when she suffered uncontrolled flooding. Her captain, Yiannis Avranas, and some of the crew were convicted of negligence for fleeing the ship without helping the passengers, who were subsequently rescued thanks to the efforts of the ship's entertainers, who made a mayday transmission, launched lifeboats, and helped South African Marines land on the ship from naval helicopters. All 571 passengers and crew survived.

Epirotiki Lines had lost two other ships within the three years preceding the sinking: the company's flagship Pegasus only two months before, and MV Jupiter, three years before.^[1]