Word: lakonia
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ISLANDS, proclaimed the Greek Line brochure for the cruise ship Lakonia...
...RISK ELIMINATED. ENJOY A HOLIDAY YOU WILL REMEMBER FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. For the 651 passengers and 390 crewmen and relatives aboard the liner, it was indeed a Christmas they would never forget. In the dead of night, four days out of Southampton last week, the Lakonia was swept by a raging, uncontrollable fire that left the 20,314-ton vessel an abandoned, gutted ruin. Of the 1,041 persons aboard, 91 were known dead and 64 more were missing in the rolling Atlantic swells...
Though the Lakonia was 33 years old, she was on her first voyage under the Greek flag. As the Dutch liner Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, she had for years plied the route from Holland to the Netherlands East Indies, during World War II had served as a British troop ship. Unlike newer ships, her bulkheads below deck were wood-paneled and her wiring system was oldfashioned; three times, under the Dutch, the liner was hit with small fires that were easily brought under control. A year ago, with passenger traffic proving unprofitable, the Dutch owners sold the vessel to the Greek...