Press Release

The Prosecution Office of Bari, Italy, expresses its appreciation to the General Prosecution Office of Albania on cooperation in a very short time period regarding the investigation into the incident of the Norman Atlantic ferry, which came in Albanian territorial waters after suffering serious fire damages On 28 December 2014

The deputy prosecutor of the region of Bari (Italy), Ettore Cardinali expresses its appreciation to the General Prosecutor of Albania, Mr. Adriatik Llalla for the immediate engagement of the Prosecution Office of Albanian in allowing the seizure of the Norman-Atlantic ship by Italian authorities, which suffered serious fire damages at the end of December 2014, and entered in Albanian territorial waters, having lost the mechanical control.

These assessments were presented by the prosecutor of Bari during a meeting on Friday (on 09 January 2015) at the General Prosecution Office in Tirana, where were present the officials of the Guardia di Finanza, Master of Bari and other collaborators.
Also, the Italian justice officials asked again the Albanian judicial authorities for legal assistance on the seizure of a rescue boat of the Norman Atlantic ferry, which after the serious incident has remained blocked at the estuary of the Seman River, Fier, on 29 December 2014. In this lifeboat, the Italian authorities believe there are evidences that can serve to the investigation that is already launched by them. After the verification of the State Police, it was concluded that there was no sign or trace of damaged or wrecked nationals.

Today, on 09 January 2015, there are taken all the measures for the execution of the letter rogatory by the Prosecution Office at the Court of First Instance of Fier.
The General Prosecutor, Mr. Llalla, taking occasion by the intensive communication between the two investigative structures, as in the case of Norman Atlantic ferry, during the meeting assured Mr. Cardinali that the Prosecution Office of Albania will continue to have a very close cooperation with the Italian authorities in any joint investigation, where the principal place is occupied by the fight against organized crime.

The Prosecution Office of Albania and the Prosecution Office of Bari developed urgent procedure for seizure of the Italian-flagged ship, Norman Atlantic, where was found a serious fire damage on 28 December 2014 in the Adriatic Sea. The ship, after losing the control, came in Albanian territorial waters. By the breakdown of the ferry, so far, there are officially confirmed at least 10 people dead, while the Prosecution Office of Bari is conducting the investigations regarding this serious marine incident.

On 29 December 2014, so only a day after ascertaining the damage, the judicial authorities of Bari demanded the seizure of the vessel for investigation purposes, on the basis of a legal assistance request, submitted at the General Prosecution Office of Albania.
According to prompt actions by the General Prosecution Office, the request was sent to the Prosecution Office of Vlora, which submitted the request to the court. On 30 December 2014, the court approved the request of the Prosecution Office of Vlora for allowing seizure of the vessel by the Italian authorities. Following these legal proceedings, the Italian authorities towed the Norman Atlantic ferry to the port of Brindisi.

The Prosecutor of Bari, Mr. Volpe, a few days before today's visit of his deputy in Tirana, specifically on 01 January 2015, sent a letter of appreciation to Albanian Prosecution Office, in which it was expressed the appreciation on the cooperation shown by the Albanian judicial authorities to allow the immediate execution of the order for the seizure of the vessel by the Albanian territorial waters, giving in this way a significant contribution to the continuation of the investigation.

Date 9.1.2015