Pilot Charged in Incident Where Cargo Ship Ran Over Pleasure Boat
Swedish prosecutors charged the pilot who was aboard the cargo ship Misje Verde for his role in the incident in which the cargo ship ran over a pleasure boat and killed two people while overtaking the small boat. Last week, prosecutors arrested the captain of the vessel, and he is being held in jail due to the risk that he could flee Sweden or could interfere with the ongoing investigation.
The pilot, who worked with the Swedish Maritime Administration, was assigned to the 5,300-dwt vessel, which was navigating along the west coast of Sweden on the night of July 28. The ship, which was bound for Norway, was required to have a pilot aboard.
Prosecutors said they would be looking at the role of the master and pilot, who were the only two people on the bridge at the time of the incident. The 90-meter (295-foot) cargo ship was moving at a quicker speed and overtaking the 7 to 8 meter (23 to 26 foot) recreational boat, which had a man and woman aboard with two young children.
“During the preliminary investigation, it has emerged that the pilot had such an active role on the vessel's bridge during the voyage that the pilot is reasonably suspected of having been an accomplice to the accident,” the prosecutor announced on August 4. They determined that his actions had risen to the level of “reasonable suspicion” (the lowest level under Swedish law) and that he could be liable for negligence in maritime traffic and causing the death of another person.
The pilot has denied the charges. Prosecutors said the information he supplied is “largely consistent” with the information from the captain about the distribution of roles on the bridge that night.
Because he is a Swedish citizen and the level of suspicion is low, prosecutors determined that the pilot does not need to be detained during the ongoing investigation. Swedish law requires detention for an arrest. At this time, he is only charged with possible crimes.
The investigation is ongoing, with the police now having downloaded and begun the analysis of the Voyage Data Recorder, i.e. “Black Box” from the cargo ship. The driver of the pleasure boat was questioned by police in the hospital and again for a longer interview after he was discharged. The man and his son survived the collision while the bodies of the mother and her daughter were recovered the following day.
“Pictures of the salvaged accident boat have now been submitted to the investigation, and the impression from them is that the boat was indeed run over,” said prosecutors. They will be looking at the angle at which the boat was hit and examine and evaluate in more detail the angle at which the boat was struck. They note, however, that due to the speed and hydrodynamic forces that existed around the larger vessel, the damage and the “run over angle” may appear differently.
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The master of the vessel, a Russian citizen, is being held in jail. The deadline for the indictment is August 14. He is being held on the charge of causing the deaths, while negligence in maritime traffic is a lesser offense that does not require detention.
