Tourists evacuated as Greek ship runs aground

ATHENS, Greece (CNN) -- Greek authorities rescued 278 passengers and 35 crew members Thursday after a cruise ship ran aground near the island of Poros, said Greece's Ministry of Merchant Marine.

The Greek-flagged Georgis hit a barren inlet as it was coming in to dock in Poros, about a mile away, the ministry said.

It had embarked from the port city of Piraeus near Athens and was touring the nearby islands of Poros and Hydra.

There are no reported injuries. The evacuation operation took about two hours, with the the last person being plucked off the ship by early evening.

Passengers and crew were transferred to another vessel, authorities said.

A fleet of Coast Guard and navy vessels was dispatched near the listing ship, and seven Super Puma helicopters and a C-130 Hercules transport aircraft aided in the rescue effort, as did other commercial vessels in the area.

Last April, a Greek-flagged cruise ship carrying more than 1,000 passengers ran aground on a rocky reef while trying to dock at harbor of the holiday island of Santorini. The boat later sank.

The captain and five other senior crew members of were charged with negligence and violating international maritime rules. E-mail to a friend

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