FRENCH COURT REJECTS
FAMILIES’ COMPENSATION
CLAIM FOR 1994 ESTONIA
SINKING
A French high court has rejected the compensation case of the families of the Estonia
ferry that sank in the Baltic in 1994 with the loss of 852 lives. The tragedy remains
Europe’s worst maritime accident in terms of lives lost in the last 30 years.
The court ruled that shipbuilder Meyer Werft and classification society Bureau
Veritas would not have to compensate victims’ families.
The civil court case opened in France, where Bureau Veritas is headquartered,
following the payment of €130m in compensation by Swedish operator Estline in a case
for material loss in the Swedish court.
Lawyers brought the €40.8m compensation case in France on behalf of 1,116 mostly
Swedish family members of the victims, following a 1997 tripartite international
commission report indicating the responsibility of the builder and classification society
in technical faults involving the ship’s inner bow door unlocking system.
Swedish lawyer Henning Vitte expressed disappointment with the verdict. ‘It is
totally abnormal that a case of such importance did not pinpoint any responsibility for
the disaster,’ he said. •
FATIGUE LED TO US
WARSHIP COLLISION
A US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation into the collision
between the USS John S McCain and tanker Alnice MC found that insufficient training,
crew fatigue, inadequate bridge operating procedures and a lack of operational
oversight were to blame. Ten sailors died and 48 were injured when the ships collided
on August 21, 2017, in the Singapore Strait, one of the world’s busiest waterways. It
was the second accident involving a US naval vessel in as many months, following the
collision of the USS Fitzgerald and containership ACX Crystal off the coast of Japan on
June 17. The NTSB said the Navy had no standards for ensuring crew members aboard
the ship had adequate rest. •
64 SUOMEN MERENKULKU J FINLANDS SJÖFART
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