Cruise ship captain arrested in deadly Budapest boat crash

[soryang]

By PABLO GORONDI
June 1, 2019

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — A Hungarian judge on Saturday ordered the formal arrest of a captain whose Viking river cruise ship collided with a sightseeing boat on the Danube River, sinking the tourist boat and leaving seven South Koreans dead and 21 other people missing.

Authorities said water levels in Budapest are expected to fall quickly in the coming days, helping efforts to salvage the wreckage that may still contain victims’ bodies.

The judge ordered the 64-year-old Ukrainian captain of the Viking Sigyn cruise ship formally arrested for 30 days. He said the captain could be released on bail — subject to him wearing a tracking device and remaining in Budapest — but prosecutors are appealing that decision.

https://www.apnews.com/95bb78cfcc31492c8356945915185097

Most of the victims are South Korean citizens. JTBC reports that five more bodies have been recovered downstream although identities have not been confirmed. Hungarian rescue divers report the water visibility is still virtually zero. Hungarian authorities have forbidden any attempts to enter the submerged wreck due to safety concerns for the lives of divers. Rescue planners are anticipating that the recovery of the wreck may take until June 9. While weather and visibility conditions were poor at the time of the collision, Korean reports are referring to the collision which sunk the smaller and older tourist cruise vessel as a "hit and run." It was previously reported that a substantial team of South Korean first responders and recovery experts were flown to the scene and that the South Korean Secretary of State had departed for Hungary to assess the situation and assist the families of victims. It is alleged that there was no safety protocol on the vessel that was sunk, and no one was required to wear life vests.

This is the latest AP report:

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Preparations for salvage efforts of a sunken tour boat in the Danube River have resumed in Budapest on Monday.

Divers could be seen entering the water from a pontoon in the river, while empty body bags were visible on a small boat docked next to the pontoon.

The Hableany (Mermaid), a boat carrying South Korean tourists capsized and sank Wednesday night after colliding with a much larger river cruise ship, the Viking Sygin, near the Hungarian Parliament building.

Seven of the 35 people on board have been rescued, with seven confirmed fatalities and 21 people, including 19 South Koreans and the two Hungarian crew members, are still missing.

https://apnews.com/ad6196f208ce420393664d55af9f9c55

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. Hungary tourist boat accident: Captain also involved in Dutch boat crash

The captain of a cruise ship involved in a fatal crash in Budapest last week was behind a similar collision in the Netherlands in April, prosecutors said.

The Viking Sigyn crashed into a tourist boat, the Mermaid, on the Danube, on 29 May. The Mermaid then sank, killing 28.

The captain, a 64-year-old Ukrainian national named as Yuriy C, was later arrested. He denies any wrongdoing.
...
According to prosecutors, Yuriy C was the captain of a cruise ship that had collided with a cargo vessel while sailing from Antwerp to Ghent on 1 April.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-48548023

Link to tweet

[soryang]

2. Wow thanks Muriel!

I will be mentioning this to my local Korean American friends. I hadn't heard about this. This is still a big story in South Korea.