Immediately, a court docket in Hungary sentenced the captain (grasp) of the Viking Sigyn river cruise ship to 5 years and 6 months in jail for his negligence in inflicting the sinking of a Hungarian sightseeing boat, the Hableany (“Mermaid”), on the Danube River through the night of Could 29, 2019.

Hungarian Decide Dr. Leona Németh discovered that Captain Chaplinsky was negligent within the operation of the Viking river cruise ship which overtook and ran over the smaller sightseeing boat as the 2 vessels proceeded at evening underneath the Margit Bridge on the Danube River in central Budapest.

On the time of the collision, there have been 33 vacationers and a couple of Hungarian tour guides aboard the sightseeing boat. Twenty-five South Korean vacationers and the 2 tour guides died. The physique of 1 vacationer couldn’t be positioned.

There have been no reviews of harm on the Viking river ship (known as a “longship” by Viking). The Washington Publish‘s protection of the collision contained a video of the incident.

Captain Chaplinsky was discovered responsible of “endangering water transport resulting in a lethal mass accident,” in accordance with the Budapest choose who additionally acquitted the captain of “failing to offer assist.”

Earlier than the decision, Captain Chaplinsky, now 68 years outdated, voiced his”immense remorse” for the fatalities. He reportedly acknowledged earlier than he was sentenced: “I can’t relaxation even for a minute due to the reminiscences of this horrible tragedy. I can’t sleep at evening due to them.”

Captain Chaplinsky has been in police custody because the collision, together with being remanded to deal with arrest in Hungary since 2020, in accordance with MRT. The choose ordered the time Chaplinsky has already served to depend towards his five-and-a-half-year sentence. This may lead to jail time of lower than two years.

Have a remark or query? Please depart one beneath or be a part of the dialogue on our fb web page.

Picture credit score: Grasp Yuriy Chaplinsky – Condé Nast Traveler / Deborah Dunn; Viking Sigyn collision – screengrab from ATV Magyarország YouTube.