Four seafarers will be spending the next few years in jail for the 2008 sinking of a Ukrainian tugboat in Hong Kong.
With the deaths of 18 seafarers on their hands, the punishment handed down last week was always going to be severe for the four seamen responsible for one of Hong Kong’s worst maritime disasters.
In March 2008, the Ukrainian tug, Neftegaz-67, collided with a Chinese bulk carrier, Yaohai, in a busy channel off Lantau island. The tug sank in minutes and only seven of the 25 crew managed to make it out alive.
Four sailors stood accused of endangering lives at sea – Neftegaz master Yuriy Kulemesin, Yaohai captain Liu Bo and Hong Kong pilots Tang Dock-wah and Bruce Chun.
They were all found guilty in a district court with the stiffest sentence reserved for Kulemesin. He will be spending the next three years and two months behind bars.
The other three defendants received sentences of between 28 months and three years. All plan to appeal.
In sentencing, the judge said Hong Kong’s busy waters demanded vigilance from ship crews. She heard that the tug had wrongly remained in the centre of the channel despite seeing the mainland carrier approaching, and despite several warnings from the Marine Department. Kulemesin testified that he did not hear the Yaohai's warning whistle blasts.
But the judge was unmoved by the defence, stating that the seamen watched and did nothing as a dangerous situation developed. She said that in the busy and restricted waters of Hong Kong, careful and prudent navigation was expected.
More than 200,000 ocean and river trade vessel arrivals are recorded in Hong Kong every year by the Marine Department, and most of them manage to navigate the busy waters safely without bumping into each other.
After colliding with the bulk carrier, the Neftegaz-67 sank quickly, trapping many of the crew inside. Hong Kong divers tried to get inside the hull of the sunken vessel in case some crew were trapped in air pockets, but the weather and the depth of the ship made their job impossible.
There is no such thing as closure for families of the dead, but at least putting those responsible behind bars brings to an end a painful chapter in Hong Kong’s maritime history.