Johan van Oldenbarnevelt 1929-1963 / (Lakonia 1963)

In 1963 Johan van Oldenbarnevelt became the Greek cruiseship Lakonia and caught fire in Dec 1963.

The Lakonia departed Southampton on December 19, 1963 for an 11-day "Christmas Cruise" of the Canary Islands. Her first scheduled stop was to be the island of Madeira

On December 22,  fire alarms sounded, but too softly to be heard by most passengers.

An alarm went off on the bridge, pinpointing the fire’s location. The ship was 180 miles north of Madeira and 550 miles northwest of Casablanca-Morocco

There were 646 passengers and 376 crewmen on board: a total of 1,022 people.

A total of 128 people died in the Lakonia disaster, of which 95 were passengers and 33 were crew members. Only 53 people were killed in the actual fire. The rest died from exposure, drowning and injuries sustained while diving overboard.

Captain Zarbis, his first officer and the ship’s security officer were charged with gross negligence.

The cause of the fire was ultimately determined to be a short circuit of faulty electrical wiring.

On December 29, the Lakonia sank down at 230 miles southwest of Lisbon, Portugal and 250 miles west of Gibraltar, and its postion was position: 34 º NB and 12º32 WL.