‘Hebei Spirit’ officers sentenced to jail

Indian seafarers may avoid Korean ports
Enraged by the unfair jail sentence passed by the South Korean court on two Indian marine officers, the international shipping community has reacted sharply threatening to take stern action on an unprecedented scale.
Abdulgani Serang general secretary of the National Union of Seafarers of India informed in a press release “We are very furious. We condemn this decision. It’s unfair and unjust.” He warned of a possible backlash against South Korea following the jailing of Captain Jasprit Chawla and chief officer Syam Chetan who had previously been found innocent at a court hearing on June 23. He said: “There is a strong possibility Indian seafarers will avoid South Korean ports. The seafaring and shipping communities are deeply disturbed. Reactions are bound to follow.”
The appeal court in Daejeon jailed Capt Chawla for 18 months and fined him Won20m after finding him guilty on two charges related to the oil spill. The court said Capt Chawla should have gone full astern to drag anchor to prevent the collision with the drifting crane barge Samsung No 1 which had earlier broken its tow.
Mr Chetan was sentenced to eight months in prison and fined Won10m after being criticised by the three appeal court judges. They said Mr Chetan should have been more vigilant and called the master by 0550 hours. They also slammed Mr Chetan for pumping inert gas into the cargo holds and taking too long to transfer oil between the holds.
The two seafarers colleagues at V Ships lamented, “If such unfair punishment is meted out to marine officers for strictly adhering to the rules of the book then it will only discourage younger generations from going to sea. Seafarers will henceforth refrain from sailing into South Korean ports.”
Adding its voice, the International Transport Workers Federation said the decision was “incomprehensibly vindictive”. ITF maritime coordinator Stephen Cotton said: “This is not justice. It’s not even something close. What we have seen today is ‘scapegoating’, criminalisation and a refusal to consider the wider body of evidence that calls into question the propriety of the court. This decision is incomprehensibly vindictive and will impact on all professional mariners”.
He added: “The one thing we can promise today is that this isn’t over. The campaign to free these men will go on growing until the justice that was so glaringly absent in this court today is done.”
Bob Bishop, V.Ships Shipmanagement managing director, said the guilty verdicts and the jailing of the two men “was a complete travesty” and an appeal would be lodged with South Korea’s Supreme Court within two weeks. In the meantime, the pair will have to serve their sentence in jail. Mr Bishop said the company would continue to support both men and their families.
He said the company was making its own feelings known to the Korean authorities and added that the Indian government also planned to raise the issue with the South Korean government.
Mr Bishop added: “The very fact they were paraded outside the court in handcuffs shows the decision was intended to assuage Korean public opinion”. About 100 residents of the area affected by the spill clapped outside court after the judges issued their judgment
The court said the master should not have pumped inert gas into the tanker’s cargo holds because it increased the spillage of oil when the explosive risk was low. It added the Hebei Spirit should have been ballasted to create a 10 degree list which would have prevented the oil spill, while three and a half hours to transfer oil between cargo tanks was too long. Hebei Ocean Shipping, which owned the Hong Kong-flagged tanker was fined Won30m.
Ironically, Capt Chawla and Mr Chetan were sent to prison on International Human Rights Day. Mr Bishop said the incarceration of the two men on such an auspicious day was “the final indignity”.
In what could be seen as a further insult, the appeal court slashed the prison terms for two of the two tug captains directly involved in the incident. One captain had his jail term cut from three years to 30 months, while the other had his sentence reduced from one year to eight months.
The court also confirmed a Won30m fine on Samsung Heavy Industries, which owned the crane barge and tugs involved in the collision. The master of the barge, who was asleep until almost the collision occurred, who was exonerated at the June hearing, was jailed for 18 months.
The accident occurred after the Samsung No 1 broke its tow and drifted in stormy conditions before colliding with the fully loaded 260,000 dwt Hebei Spirit which was at anchor. The crane barge holed three of the tanker’s cargo tanks spewing more than 10,500 tonnes of oil into the sea which polluted a vast stretch of Korea’s west coast causing its worst environmental disaster.
“This is despite the acquittal by their lower court and numerous protests from international shipping associations, including the Asian Shipowners Forum and Singapore Shipping Association. This is in clear violation of the principle set forth in the IMO guidelines on the Fair Treatment of Seafarers in the Event of a Maritime Accident.”