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Prosecutor demands four years prison for captain of Russian ship for gross negligence in fatal collision

The Barcelona public prosecutor's office is demanding four years in prison for the captain of the 'Midvolga 2' which was in collision with the fishing boat 'El Fairell' in March 20177 when leaving the port of Barcelona en route to Alexandria, in which two fishermen drowned. Despite favourable weather conditions and a good sight, the tanker hit the 25-metre long fishing boat which approached the fishing quay from the starboard side. Three crew members fell overboard, of which only one managed to surface. The other two, a 33-year-old Moroccan and a 36-year-old Senegalese, were first reported missing and found dead a few days later by the Civil Guard. The captain of the Russian ship appeared before the Barcelona criminal court on March 28, 2023, accused to be responsible for the two deaths due to gross negligence. The prosecution is demanding a four-year prison sentence and a special six-year ban on operating merchant ships in Spanish jurisdiction. In addition, the justice wants the captain, the owner of the merchant ship and their insurance company, to pay compensation of 616,796 Euros to the relatives of the two deceased sailors, 27,216 Euros to the survivors, 514,813 Euros to the owners of the ship and 514,813 Euros to the maritime rescue service. If the court imposes a prison sentence of more than 12 months, the public prosecutor asks that the captain of the Russian ship be removed from Spanish territory and banned from entering Spain for 10 years. According to the expert, a merchant captain and maritime safety coordinator in Barcelona, the Russian merchant ship was responsible for 70% of the accident.

Tanker released after collision

On Apr 7 the "Midvolga 2" was schduledto leave the port of Barcelona after having been released by the authorities. She had been detained since March 20, after it collided with the trawler "El Fairell" about 3 miles south of the port while heading for Alexandria. Two crew members of the f/v were killed. In order to obtain the exit permit, the shipowner had to pay a bond of 300,000 Euros imposed by the Maritime Captaincy as a guarantee of the sanction file for serious misconduct against safety in navigation. A bond of 308,000 Euros was imposed by the Mercantile Court that takes the lawsuit filed by the owner of the fishing boat. 527,000 Euros had to be paid for the services of Sasemar and others during the rescue work. The 1st officer of the tanker had already deposited the guarantee for the 50,000 Euros that the Court of Barcelona had to impose on him as bail in order to avoid imprisonment. The court charged him with the crime of two reckless killings based and alleged gross negligence while navigating the tanker. The "Midvolga 2" will leave the port with the same 12 crew members that it had at the time of the incident. The investigation showed that both vessels failed to comply with the applicable regulations of the Regulation to Prevent Accidents At Sea and therefore both ships were responsible for the accident. The tanker left the port at 8.30 p.m. and headed to Rostov-on-Don, ETA Apr 18.

Missing bodies found - captain and officer of tanker summoned to justice

The crew of the "Clara Campoamor" worked uninterruptedly to recover the missing crew members of the "El Fairell". In the morning of March 24 the ROV recovered the body of the last missing man in the vicinity of the fishing vessel. A At 4:45 a.m. the lifting maneuver has been completed and the body of the Senegalese citizen of 37 years brought to the surface. He transferred onto a vessel of the Special Underwater Activities Group (GEAS) of the Civil Guard and was taken to facilities of the Maritime Service Provincial de la Benemérita. In the afternoon of March 23 the first of the missing men, a Moroccan, was found in the vicinity of the wreck and deposited into a a basket which was hoisted at 15 meters depth where several divers recovered the corpse and took it to surface. Before, the ROV cleaned the hull and removed obstacvles which prevented it from approaching the wreck in a depth of 160 meters. After this phase, an exhaustice inspection of the ship was carried out so that it could be ruled out that there were bodies inside the wreck. Then the search was continued in the vicinity. The "Guardamar Callíope" meanwhile transferred the skipper to the "Clara Campoamor", accompanied by his brother and the Maritime Captain of Barcelona, ​​Javier Valencia. The captain and the first officer of the "Midvolga 2" were summoned to the Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Cataluña (TSJC) in Barcelona in the frame of the investigations for an alleged "reckless crime". The two had a "maximum responsibility". The "Midvolga 2" was being held in the port of Barcelona as the investigations continued on the circumstances of the accident. Spanish report and photos: http://www.salvamentomaritimo.es/sm/sala-de-prensa/localizado-cerca-del-pecio-lo-que-podria-ser-el-cuerpo-de-uno-de-los-marineros-desaparecidos-de-el-fairell/ https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C7nbwPXW0AA1sHx.jpg https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C7oCyCMW4AEQjN6.jpg https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C7oCw_8XUAIXfKR.jpg