View source for MV Jupiter (1961)

{{Short description|Ship sinks in the Mediterranean}}
{{other ships|MV Jupiter}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
| Ship image = 
| Ship caption = 
}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Hide header = 
| Ship country = [[Israel]]
| Ship flag = {{Shipboxflag|Israel|civil}}
| Ship name = ''Moledet''
| Ship owner = [[ZIM (shipping company)|ZIM Israel Navigation Company Ltd.]]
| Ship registry = [[Haifa]]
| Ship route = [[Haifa]]–[[Marseille]]
| Ship builder = Ateliers et Chantiers de Bretagne, [[Nantes]], [[France]]
| Ship launched = 19 February 1961
| Ship identification = [[Maritime call sign|Call sign]]: 4XXN
| Ship fate = Sold 28 September 1970
}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Hide header = title
| Ship country = [[Greece]]
| Ship flag = {{Shipboxflag|Greece|civil}}
| Ship name = ''Jupiter''
| Ship namesake = [[Jupiter]]
| Ship owner = [[Epirotiki Line]]
| Ship acquired = 28 September 1970
| Ship in service = 7 May 1971
| Ship identification = *{{IMO Number|5239022}}
| Ship fate = Sunk in collision 21&nbsp;October&nbsp;1988
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
| Hide header = 
| Header caption = (as built)<ref name="hma.org"/>
| Ship type = [[Passenger-cargo ship]]
| Ship tonnage = *{{GRT|7,810}}
*{{NRT|3,828}}
*{{DWT|2,104}}
| Ship length = {{cvt|126.65|m|ftin}} [[Length overall|o/a]]
| Ship beam = {{cvt|19.89|m|ftin}}
| Ship draft = {{cvt|6.45|m|ftin}}
| Ship propulsion = * 2 × {{cvt|6390|bhp|0}} Pielstick 9-cylinder 4-stroke engines
* 1 × [[Variable-pitch propeller (marine)|Controllable-pitch propeller]]
| Ship speed = {{Convert|17|kn|lk=in}}
}}
|}
'''MV ''Jupiter''''' was a [[Greece|Greek]]-registered [[cruise ship]] that sank on 21 October 1988, within 40 minutes of leaving the Greek port of [[Piraeus]]. On board were 391 [[British people|British]] schoolchildren and 84 adults on a study cruise and 110 crew. The disaster claimed the lives of one pupil, one teacher and two [[Greek people|Greek]] crew members.

==The ship==
''Jupiter'' was originally known as ''Moledet'' ("Fatherland") and was a passenger ship registered in the port of [[Haifa]] in 1961. The 7,810-tonne vessel was built for [[ZIM (shipping company)|Zim]] (Israel Navigation Company Ltd) and sailed regular voyages around the [[Mediterranean]].<ref name="hma.org">{{cite web |url=http://www.hma.org.il/Museum/Templates/showpage.asp?DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=84&FID=1753&PID=5154 |title=Hebrew Shipping Database - Moledet |work=[[Israeli National Maritime Museum]] |year=2014 |accessdate=27 May 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131024071542/http://www.hma.org.il/Museum/Templates/showpage.asp?DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=84&FID=1753&PID=5154 |archivedate=24 October 2013 }}</ref> In September 1970, ''Moledet'' was sold to [[Epirotiki Line]], a Greek shipping company, and renamed ''Jupiter''.<ref name="hma.org"/>

==Sinking of the ''Jupiter''==
On 21 October 1988, 391 schoolchildren aged 13 to 16 and their teachers boarded ''Jupiter'' at the Greek port of Piraeus at the start of a week-long educational cruise around the Mediterranean.<ref name="independent1">{{cite news |url= https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/forty-minutes-that-changed-everything-1177203.html |title=Forty minutes that changed everything |first=Nick |last=Tester |work=[[The Independent]] |date=10 October 1998 |publisher=[[Independent News & Media|INM]] |location=[[London]] |issn=0951-9467 |oclc=185201487 |accessdate=27 May 2014}}</ref>

Just 15 minutes after leaving port, the ''Jupiter'' was struck by an [[Italy|Italian]] [[freight ship]], the ''Adige'', that was entering port.<ref name="hma.org"/> The collision tore a {{Convert|4.5|m|ft|0|adj=on}} by {{Convert|12|m|ft|0|adj=on}} hole in ''Jupiter''{{'}}s [[Port and starboard|port]] side. Within 40 minutes (at 6:55{{nbsp}}p.m.), the ship had sunk vertically and [[stern]] first in {{Convert|82|m|0}} of water.<ref name="independent1"/><ref name="gravesendreporter1">{{cite news |url=http://www.gravesendreporter.co.uk/news/features_2_3857/school_cruise_turned_into_fight_for_survival_1_597695 |title=School cruise turned into fight for survival |newspaper=Gravesend Reporter |date=23 October 2008 |accessdate=29 June 2013}}</ref>

The lives of two passengers (a pupil and a teacher from the [[West Midlands (region)|West Midlands]]) and two Greek crew members were lost. Around 70 people sustained injuries.<ref name="independent1"/><ref name="gravesendreporter1"/>

==Aftermath==
In the immediate aftermath of the incident, the captain of the Italian ship was detained and Greek and Italian authorities each blamed the other party.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/22805/CAPTAIN-ACCUSED-OF-RAMMING-CRUISE-SHIP.html?pg=all |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923225100/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/22805/CAPTAIN-ACCUSED-OF-RAMMING-CRUISE-SHIP.html?pg=all |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 23, 2015 |title=Captain Accused of Ramming Cruise Ship |newspaper=[[Deseret News]] |date=23 October 1988 |accessdate=29 June 2013}}</ref> The subsequent court cases lasted almost eight years.<ref name="independent1"/>

The ship remained where she sank, {{Convert|1.2|nmi|km}} from the port entrance at Piraeus. A significant oil leakage occurred in 1999, possibly following disturbance of the seabed by an earthquake, and was removed in a 43-day operation to protect the local marine environment.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=The Successful Oil Removal Operation from the Sunken Vessel Jupiter in Greece |first1=Vassilios |last1=Mamaloukas-Frangoulis |first2=Helen |last2=Polychronopoulos |first3=Kostas |last3=Ploumitsakos |first4=Stelios |last4=Volakis |journal=International Oil Spill Conference Proceedings |pages=1395–1397 |date=March 2001 |volume=2001 |issue=2 |doi=10.7901/2169-3358-2001-2-1395 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

An [[Institute of Psychiatry]] report in 1999 focused on the experiences of the children and formed one of the largest studies of adolescent survivors of disasters when it was published.<ref name="independent1"/>

The impact on the young people was also recorded in a book called ''Jupiter's Children, ''compiled by former schoolteacher and ''Jupiter'' survivor Mary Campion and published in 1998. Given the gravity of the incident, it was considered remarkable that all but one schoolchild survived, but in an interview in ''[[The Independent]]'', Mary Campion suggested that their behaviour may have been a contributory factor: "Schoolchildren are accustomed to obeying orders and those aboard did so without argument. They are used to being in a crowd, being controlled by adults, without questioning at the time, and to moving frequently in a school day in large numbers without pushing, jostling or hurting each other."<ref name="independent1"/>

Writing in the newsletter of the group [[Disaster Action]] in 2010, Campion said that although the case had set a number of [[legal precedent]]s in UK law and had changed safety regulations for passengers on ships, many of the survivors were suffering from [[post-traumatic stress disorder]] in the aftermath and did not receive the treatment they needed. She added that a [[Facebook]] page for Jupiter Survivors established in 2009 had revealed that many people were still adversely affected two decades on.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.disasteraction.org.uk/newsletter/DA_Newsletter_Spring_2010.pdf |title=Newsletter |date=Spring 2010 |work=Disaster Action |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130108122241/http://www.disasteraction.org.uk/newsletter/DA_Newsletter_Spring_2010.pdf |archivedate=January 8, 2013 }}</ref>

==Trivia==
* The MV ''Adige'' was still in service as a car carrier until she was scrapped in 2001.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite book |title=Jupiter's Children |first=Mary |last=Campion |publisher=Liverpool University Press |location=Liverpool |year=1998 |isbn=978-085323753-2 }}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140527215834/http://www.tes.co.uk/teaching-resource/Return-to-Hell-harbour-80568/ Review of ''Jupiter's Children'' at TES]
* [http://www.disasteraction.org.uk Disaster Action website]

{{1988 shipwrecks}}
{{coord|37.9250|N|23.6083|E|source:wikidata|display=title}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jupiter, MV}}
[[Category:1961 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in France]]
[[Category:Passenger ships of Israel]]
[[Category:Sunken cruise ships]]
[[Category:Cruise ships of Greece]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1988]]
[[Category:Ships sunk in collisions]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea]]