April 6, 2007 - A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokeswoman said there were up to 15 Australians on board the ship. "From that incident, there were no casualties," she said. Scores of passengers, including Australian tourists, climbed down rope ladders to rescue vessels after a Greek cruise ship struck a reef and started listing in the Mediterranean, forcing the evacuation of 1600 people.

"Our consul in Athens has been in touch with the cruise company and we understand that the Greek government took care of the Australians and others who were on board," the spokeswoman said.

She said the passengers boarded another ship in the same cruise line to continue their holiday.

But two French tourists, a father and his teenage daughter are missing.

''The missing are Jean-Christophe Allain, 45, and his 16-year-old daughter Maud,'' a Greek merchant marine ministry official told AFP, adding that the claim was made by Allain's wife and son several hours after the accident yesterday.

Authorities said most of the nearly 1200 passengers on the Greek-flagged Sea Diamond were American tourists. At least two school groups from Canada, more than 100 Spaniards and a crew of almost 400 were also on board when the ship hit the rocks off the island of Santorini shortly.

"People were nervous, women were screaming and it was a struggle to get to a life jacket,” said passenger Ben Kucenko, a telecoms technician from Geelong.
"We were scared the boat was going to tip over. We could barely walk."

"A lot of us were taking pictures from when we were coming into Santorini. All of a sudden, there was this big jolt," said Catherine Small, 17, one of more than two dozen students from North Carolina on board.

"The ship was really far tilted. It was actually kind of freaking us out -  scary," Small said.

As per latest update, the Greek government said that it was a "miracle" that no one was killed as the 472ft Sea Diamond ran aground off the island of Santorini. All people have been rescued.