VIKING IDUN

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Captain pleaded not guilty for failing to provide assistance

Topal F., the former captain of the “Viking Idun,” pleaded not guilty in his criminal trial on Jan 15, 2024. The prosecution accuses him of failing to provide assistance in 27 cases in connection with the collision of the sister ship “Viking Sigyn” with the excursion ship “Hableány” in Budapest in May 2019. The “Viking Idun” was in the immediate vicinity of the “Viking Sigyn” at the time of the accident as both ships approached Margaret Bridge. 27 people died, and a South Korean passenger is still missing. The Ukrainian captain Topal F., who was unable to appear in person due to the ongoing war in his country and his health condition, took part in the hearing at the Central District Court of Pest using video conferencing technology. The public prosecutor had previously recommended that he be sentenced to a suspended sentence and a ban on driving ships, but the defendant did not accept this. As the defendant explained, he felt that the “Viking Sigyn” was slowing down considerably. After consultation, he began to overtake them. Since there were two large passenger ships, both could not pass the Margaret Bridge at the same time. According to Topal F., the weather was bad, it was raining, there was a strong wind and the radar images were blurry, which made orientation difficult. The defendant did not notice how the “Viking Sigyn” collided with the much smaller “Hableány”. He only found out about the collision, when his ship docked further south. The crews of the smaller ships in the area had caused chaos via radio in Hungarian, so the international “Mayday” warning signal could not be heard. According to Topal F., no one on board the “Viking Idun” was able to notice the accident. In his defense, the defendant pointed out that he was primarily responsible for his own ship, its crew and passengers and could only take part in a rescue operation if it did not endanger anyone on his ship. The captain of the “Viking Sigyn”, Yuriy Chaplinsky, who was also Ukrainian, had already been sentenced to 5,5 years in prison for causing the accident.

Master detained for accusation of non participation in rescue operation

On Jan 29, 2020, the Ukrainian master of the 'Viking Idun' was taken in custody on suspicion of lack of assistance after the collision of the 'Hableany' and the 'Viking Sigyn' in May 2019 on the Danube. The ship was sailing behind the 'Viking Sigyn' and accused to have continued its voyage without participating in the SAR operation. On Jan 30 a court in Budapest was to decide about the detention.

Cruise ship under repair in Amsterdam

The "Viking Idun" was found to be seaworthy enough to sail to a repair yard only with the crew on board. The ship left Terneuzen again at 5.30 p.m. on Apr 2 and sailed via Hansweert to Amsterdam, where it arrived on Apr 3 at 7 a.m. and berthed at the Damen Shiprepair around 9 a.m. After the collision with the "Chemical Marketer", both ships initially were detained in Terneuzen for inspections. The "Chemical Marketer" was towed to the port of Flushing in the run of April 1. The hull of ship was torn open in the collision. The tanker meanwhile left the Quarles Port and headed to Rotterdam to discharge its cargo prior to repairs of the breaches at the port side foreship. On Apr 5 at 8.15 p.m. the tanker berthed at the chemical port in the Europort-Caland-Canal in Rotterdam at the Rubis company for this purpose. Meanwhile it became known that shortly after the ship left Antwerp at 9.30 p.m. bound for Ghent on March 31, it got stuck at Bath. At 9.50 p.m. it narrowly avoided a collision with another ship. The keel water from that ship pushed the cruise ship onto a sandbank where it got stuck. Rijkswaterstaat and Delta confirmed the incident, but the ship was able to back off on its own and continue the journey. Just before the "Viking Idun" entered the Ghent-Terneuzen Canal, it collided with the "Chemical Marketer" just after midnight at Churchilllaan in Terneuzen. The "Chemical Marketer" berthed at the Rotterdam Offshore Group B.V. on April 15 at 4.30 p.m. The "Viking Idun" left the Damen Shiprepair in Amsterdam on April 15 and headed to Arnhem where she berthed on April 16 at 7.30 a.m. Dutch report with photos: https://www.omroepzeeland.nl/nieuws/112078/Beschadigd-cruiseschip-mag-weer-varen-richting-werf-voor-reparatie