Cruise Ship Captain Sentenced To 5 Years In Prison For Negligence That Killed 27 People

A Hungarian court sentenced Ukraine’s cruise captain to five years in prison for involvement in a collision on the Danube in 2019 that left 27 individuals dead.

On May 20, 2019, the Mermaid had 33 tourists from South Korea and two crew members from Hungary. The sightseeing boat sank seconds after colliding with the larger Viking Sigyn, a big river cruise vessel.

The disaster, on a crucial stretch of the Danube River in Budapest, was the worst possible boating accident Hungary observed in over half a century.

Yuri Chaplinsky- currently 68, at the helm of the Sigyn vessel- was found guilty of carelessly endangering transport that led to a mass accident, per the Budapest court judge.

Chaplinsky was, however, acquitted of failing to offer any help.

Before the verdict, the captain had voiced immense regret for the disaster.

He mentioned that he cannot rest for a minute even due to the memories of the tragedy. He cannot sleep peacefully at night due to them, he mentioned before a packed courtroom on Tuesday.

Just seven South Koreans were rescued, while 25 lost their lives and crew members from Hungary, including the Mermaid’s captain.
A woman from South Korea continues to be missing nearly four-and-a-half years following the tragedy.

Per prosecutors, Chaplinsky, the one steering the 2,000-ton vessel Sigyn, was not concentrating on duties for about five minutes. He was also unaware of the proximity of the smaller Mermaid, miserably failing to slow down and steer away from that vessel or shoot a radio alarm.

He allegedly also neglected his duty to offer help to the ones who fell in the water or got trapped on the sunken ship, the prosecutors mentioned.

In a written statement, however, in the trial that started in 2020 (March), Chaplinsky mentioned that he did not notice the boat and thought it had hit driftwood, per a Hungarian newspaper named Blikk.

When he eventually realized what had occurred, he went into shock and allowed the second officer to take command.

Ukraine’s defense lawyer reportedly asked the judge to acquit his client of charges, arguing that the Mermaid’s captain was responsible for such a tragedy.

The Mermaid had spent over 12 days underwater at the collision spot close to the neo-Gothic Hungarian Parliament building before it was lifted with the help of a floating crane from the river bed.

Chaplinsky has been in police custody since this massive collision and was remanded to house arrest in 2020 in Hungary.

References: BBC, TRT World, Reuters

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Source: Maritime Shipping News