The search for missing persons on the Italian car ferry "Euroferry Olympia", which has been on fire since Friday in the southern Adriatic, is proving very difficult.

The special units of the Greek civil service despair: “We measure temperatures of around 600 degrees on the outside of the ship.

You can't do anything like that, ”said the head of the special command of the Greek civil service Giorgos Mitsis on Greek television.

There is no trace of the 12 people who are on the official list of missing passengers, he added.

On Saturday afternoon, thick clouds of smoke could again be seen from miles away, as Greek media reported.

The public prosecutor's office of the island of Corfu launched an initial investigation.

The captain and two officers were to testify first.

Initially, there were no arrests, the state broadcaster reported.

According to information from coast guard circles in Piraeus, seven missing persons come from Bulgaria, three from Greece and one person each from Turkey and Lithuania.

They were all truck drivers who had spent the night of Friday when the fire broke out in their vehicles on the garage decks - although this is not allowed, it said.

Tugboats can control the ferry

The ship was drifting north of the Greek island of Corfu and a few nautical miles off the Albanian coast on Saturday afternoon.

However, tugboats can control the movements of the ferry.

The ship must be brought to a safe harbor or bay soon.

The weather in the region of the disaster is good at the moment.

According to meteorologists, winds of force seven will blow in the southern Adriatic from Tuesday.

A total of 280 people have been brought to safety so far.

Nine people were slightly injured, one is in the intensive care unit in the hospital on the holiday island of Corfu because of severe smoke poisoning, state radio reported.

Most of the people who were rescued told reporters at the scene that the ferry's crew acted in a "coordinated and professional manner" and got people onto the lifeboats first.

They were then picked up by the Greek Coast Guard and an Italian Guardia di Finanza ship, which happened to be in the area of ​​the disaster on Friday, and taken to Corfu.

But there is also some information that the conditions on board the ferry were bad.

The association of Greek truck drivers had already protested in writing.

Among other things, the trucks on the car decks are said to have been parked too close together on previous trips, according to the letter of protest, which was published in the Greek press.

There is no information about the causes of the accident.

This will only be determined once the ship has been brought to safety, Greek Minister for Merchant Shipping Giannis Plakiotakis told Skai news channel.

Once the ship is secured, experts will first try to pump the fuel out of the wreckage of the ferry to prevent an oil spill, the minister said.