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GoldMember
Joined: 24 Oct 2006
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 Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2007 6:49 pm Post subject: Oil Tanker Captain Shares Blame for Oil Spill |
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From the Joongang Daily.
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2884189
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Negligence on both sides, between tugboats, a barge and an oil tanker, caused Korea�s worst-ever oil spill in the Yellow Sea off the coast of the Taean Peninsula on Dec. 7, the Korean Coast Guard said yesterday after completing an initial investigation into the accident.
More than 12,500 kiloliters of oil gushed from three holes in the hull of the Hong Kong-registered oil tanker Hebei Spirit after a barge came loose from its tugboats and crashed into the tanker.
The oil slick has been spreading south, threatening marine fisheries and wildlife and despoiling beaches that draw tourists in the summer.
The Coast Guard has named four people in the case so far, including the captains of the two tugboats, only identified as Jo, 51, and Kim, 45, and the barge captain, Kim, 39. They are charged with violating the marine pollution prevention law and negligence in the barge crash.
The Coast Guard said it has also indicted the captain of the Hebei Spirit, who wasn�t identified, for violating marine law.
According to the Coast Guard, the captains of the Samsung Corp. tugboats and the barge knew the sea would be rough due to strong tides but left shore anyway in the early morning of Dec. 7.
They also failed to respond to an emergency call from a coastal control center for one hour and thus failed to follow proper safety procedures.
On the other hand, the oil tanker captain had enough time to avoid the collision and he should have known there was the possibility of a crash, the Coast Guard said.
It was 6:52 a.m. when the wires that tied the barge to the tugboats broke free, and the oil tanker was about one to two miles away, according to the investigation.
The barge crashed into the oil tanker at 7:06 a.m.
The Coast Guard said more people could face charges as it will continue its investigation due to discrepancies in the testimonies of some witnesses.
The Samsung employees say they followed proper procedures by warning the tanker of the danger and trying to maneuver the tugboats between the barge and the ship after the wires gave way. The tanker�s crew says they pulled up their anchor to try and move the ship, according to the Coast Guard.
By Shin Jin-ho JoongAng Ilbo / Lee Yang-kyoung Staff Reporter |
According to this from the time the cables snapped to the time the barge hit the tanker, the elapsed time was 14 minutes.
The Captain had 14 minutes to realise a barge was heading his way, weigh anchor, fire up the engines and move a huge oil tanker.
The Korean coast guard are claiming he is negligent as he had a lot of time to move his ship. Oh c'mon how pathetic is that!
Samsung employees however did the right thing by warning the tanker.
Ok so if you drive on the wrong side of the road or run a red light BUT honk your horn before killing the pedestrian you 'do the right thing'.
Since Samsung seems to own the Judges and Prosecutors in this country, it is not suprising that a way to deflect blame from themselves is to blame the Indian Captain.
Assuming the matter goes to court and the Captain's defense attorny subpoenas the Samsung employees as witnesses. Guess what they don't have to attend court if they don't want to.
Consider this scenario the prosecution makes up all sorts of lies in order to indite the Captain. Guess what? there is no disincentive to doing this as Korean Judges very rarely punish perjurors.
The guy does nothing wrong, but it seems he's going to go through the wringer because of incompetence, negligence, and corruption on the part of Korea Inc. |
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I'm Seoul Lost
Joined: 19 Jun 2006
Location: In the mountains of Gyeonggi
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| Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2007 8:19 pm Post subject: |
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Outrageous. I'm not even sure that ship can start its engines in 14 minutes, much less get fully underway. How typical that Korea's legal system gives preferential treatment to citizens and domestic companies.
Korea, you want to be a world-class country? You can start by doing something about the rampant corruption and by making a truly impartial legal system. |
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ruffie
Joined: 11 Oct 2006
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| Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2007 8:28 pm Post subject: |
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| The spin on this fiasco is ridiculous. A news report was being used in one of the classes at my school, and it went on and on about the great Korean spirit evident in the cleanup, comparing it to when people turned in their gold during the IMF. No mention of foreign help or volunteers. If anyone knows of this article, please post the link. That's Korea's game, No Blame, No Shame. |
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GoldMember
Joined: 24 Oct 2006
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| Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2007 8:35 pm Post subject: |
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| Actually the Korean Herald did have a front page article a few days about the Foreigner Contribution to the clean up. Not sure what was in the Korean press, as my Korean is not yet good enough. |
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skeeterses
Joined: 25 Oct 2007
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| Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2007 11:50 pm Post subject: |
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Perhaps mankind's excessive dependency on fossil fuels can be blamed for these oil spills. If all the middle class people did not all insist on having cars, we wouldn't need to be shipping so much oil over our oceans in the first place. America and other industrialized countries can be blamed as well.
It is interesting how so many of us want to live like kings but then start pointing fingers when the companies providing us with gasoline for our cars pollute the environment or when politicians start wars over oil. |
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