The prosecutor Giuseppe Volpe announced the opening of this investigation after visiting with the harbor master of Bari, which arrived on Monday fifty survivors of the fire.

Norman Atlantic ferry caught fire Sunday with 478 people on board. About 300 have already been evacuated unharmed, according to the Italian Navy.

The survey should provide the causes of the fire that broke out early Sunday morning in the lower decks of the ship where the vehicles were, trucks, several tankers carrying oil.

The 478 passengers and crew members were forced to flee the flames by fleeing to the upper decks, outside, braving the cold and dense black smoke.

The ship had been subject to inspection recently and its Italian owner, Carlo Visentini, told the ANSA news agency to be certain of the reliability and safety of the ship, released in 2009 by an Italian shipyard.

This inspection, however, had identified a problem on one of the fire doors on the lower deck where the fire broke out, but the problem had been resolved, he has also ensured.