After more than 24 hours of battling the cold, winds and fear, more than 400 survivors were rescued from the burning ferry in the Adriatic.
Now in the darkness, these passengers exhausted finally stand on firm ground for the first time since a fire broke out on the Norman Atlantic on Sunday.
They had been winched away by helicopter and transferred to nearby ships.
Ten people were killed in the disaster but the number of missing is still unclear.
Officials say there were 478 people on the ferry travelling from Patras in Greece to Ancona in Italy.
Many families got separated during the rescue but most appeared to maintain their humour.
The airlift has finished and the captain was the last to leave his ship.
For these survivors the ordeal is over but their questions remain about why the European ferry caught alight and killed fellow passengers.
