28 November 2007, 17:35
Prosecutor's office names those guilty of shipwrecks in the Kerch Strait
Today, a session of the Board of the South Transport Prosecutor's Office on the issues of legislation observance by marine transport and operation of port complexes took place in Rostov-on-Don.
It has been stated in the course of the session that one of main reasons of the emergency situation in the Kerch Strait on November 11 was "the negligence of the captains of the 'Kavkaz' Seaport and the Rostov-on-Don River Port and employees of the port control services that was expressed in non-observance of the established procedure of vessel call and stay in the area of the Kerch Strait."
Elena Velikova, senior assistant of the Southern Transport Public Prosecutor, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that the Board also stated "the unlawful failure of the captain of the 'Kavkaz' Port to make a decision to withdraw the vessels, including those unfit and unauthorized to sail at sea, into a safe zone." Besides, it was found out in the course of examination that ship captains regularly failed to execute their duties to ensure safe navigation of their vessels and protection of the sea environment, and the ships "Volgoneft-139" and "Volgoneft-123" had "insufficient strength characteristics."
In the opinion of the Prosecutor's Office, the ship owners "had failed to ensure the observance of the requirements for life and health protection of their crews, in particular, poor equipment of the ships with rescue aids was registered."
Author: Elena Olenina, CK correspondent
