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The bizarre sinking of the cruise ship Sea Diamond just off the Greek island of Santorini -- even though the older ship was owned by a Cypriot company and not a major cruise line -- seems likely to send reverberations through the cruise industry.

The Sea Diamond inexplicably rammed underwater rocks as it approached the harbor of the port of Thira. The collision breached the ship's hull, and it began taking on water. As it started to list, a distress signal was issued and passengers were evacuated.

The cruise line at first said the 22,000- ton ship had been stabilized after it was towed off the rocks, but about 15 hours later, it sank in 600 feet of water.

While Louis Hellenic Cruises, the ship's owner, initially reported that all 1,167 passengers and 391 crew members were safely evacuated, authorities subsequently said that a 45-year-old French man and his 16-year-old daughter were unaccounted for.

The reef that the ship struck is marked with warning lights and clearly indicated on navigation charts.

Some industry analysts are worried that a number of aspects of this strange affair may negatively impact cruise ship bookings in what had been shaping up as a very strong year.

• The Sea Diamond, while far smaller and older than the ships in the fleets of the major cruise lines, unfortunately looks superficially -- particularly to novice cruisers -- similar to the big new cruise ships that most Americans sail on today.
• More than 1,000 of the passengers aboard the Sea Diamond were Americans, many students on spring break. Some had to climb down rope ladders to rescue boats some 80 feet below. When they arrive back home, passengers will be telling harrowing stories of the collision and their evacuation on television stations around the U.S. for days.
• While the collision with the rocks and evacuation were bad enough, it is even harder to understand how the Greek Merchant Marine and Greek Navy were unable to keep the ship from sinking in full view of those watching with cameras from island clifftops.

News footage and amateur videos of the ship sliding beneath the waves -- like a scene from a bad movie -- will be viewed by millions around the world in the weeks to come via the internet.