The Elisabetta Montanari
13 Marzo 1987
March13th 1987 was a day like many others at the port of Ravenna. In the Mecnavi yard, owned by the Arienti brothers, a large group of people was working inside the Elisabetta Montanari, a big cargo ship transporting LPG.
Controls performed by the technicians a few days earlier had revealed that the plates of the double bottom were worn out and severely corroded. It is necessary to replace them before the ship can sail again in the open sea. But before that, it is necessary to clean the double bottoms and remove the inflammable materials, the semi-solid residues, and the stagnation vapours.
Inside the ship (102 meters long and 14 meters wide, almost 7 meters high and weighing 2983 tons) are working at the same time workers from five different contractor companies, each firm unaware of the presence of the other. Almost everyone was employed off the books, with a ten-hours turn per day, eight on Saturday and four on Sunday.
The workers assigned to the cleansing of the hold (the picchettini) must scrape off the tar frpm the walls, immersed for allmost all the time in greasy substances. They pass each other buckets full of drainage in the almost total darkness by forming a human chain, and they toss it in the sea.
To be a picchettino does not require particular skills. It only needs willpower and spirit of sacrifice, and consists in performing simple but unpleasant tasks, in conditions of scarce visibility. It is an unclean and noisy job: the picchettini work in narrow spaces lying on their backs or on their belly. A double bottom is tall 80-90 centimeters at the most.
Blackened faces, several heavvy sweaters worn one on another, trousers of thick velvet, ski masks, oilcloth jackets and trousers, high boots. The picchettini are invisible workers hidden in the belly of the ship.
All of sudden, a flame. A fire breaks out, and the workers try to estinguish it with carpenter gloves and the clothes they use to clean their hands. But the heath of the flame has melted the tan and prevents any attempt to stop the fire. Soon afterwards, another flame ignites the tank's coating, while producing a thick cloud of smoke and toxic gases.
Darkness engulfs the space, and the worker desperately try to reach the open air through small hatches and narrow passages.
Even so, the incident's toll is tragic:
the dead bodies of thirteen men are eventually retrieved by the firefighters.
Of these thirteen men, only one was regularly hired by the Mecnavi. The tragedy revealed how even the most basic safety measures were not respected in the port, from the fire extinguishers to the fire hoses, to the vital escape routes to follow in case of danger.
Before the tragedy was complete there wass still time to save most of the workers, if not all of them, but the yard officers' first concern, according to the plaintiff's attorney, was not to work together with the fire fighters, but to go immediatly to the houses of the workers in order to get their work cards and try to rectify them
(R.Ghedini-Nel buio di una nave)
The Process
Publications about to the process
The process, carried on by the Tribunal of Ravenna, begun three years after the tragedy, and in 23 July 1990, after fifty four hearings, the court delibered nine condemnations for a total of thirty two years. Brothers Enzo and Fabio Arienti, owners of the Mecnavi, were convicted in the first degree for culpable multiple homicide, and sentenced to seven years and six months. They will serve only four. The subcontracted owners were absolved after the second appeals process in Bologna (1995).
Student march against work accidents, in the aftermath of the Elisabetta Montanary tragedy in Ravenna
The enquiry revealed the harsh conditions of the yard workers, an illigal hiring system which recruited workers from the marginalized groups of the local society. The Elisabetta Montanari tragedy inspired several demonstrations and reflessions regarding work safety.
On16 March1987, archbishop Ersilio Tonini gave a harsh sermon during the funerals of the victims, denuncing the inhuman indignity suffered by the workers:
“It is not possible to stay for ten hours in tunnels were only mice can walk. (These) words are necessary, because men can't be treated as mice"
The current conditions
The Elisabetta Montanary tragedy evidenced the precary working conditions of the port workers. The gravity of the event and its mediatic resonance eventually led to an enhancement of the safety measures and a greater attention on the working conditions.
The tragedy was an isolated event. No similar cases repeated during the following years, and the working conditions, perhaps also because of the events of March 1987, were greatly improved. Many improvements were made regarding the protection of the workers and their safety in work-sites.
Mai più. Documentary on the Elisabetta Montanari tragedy. Directed by Fausto Pullano, 1997
