Chief Engineer Charged for Enclosed Space Deaths

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On August 23, a chief engineer on a containership was charged with manslaughter charges by Brazilian prosecutors, for causing the death of two Filipino crewmen on the vessel in June 2013.

The Federal Public Ministry in Amapá (MPF/AP) denounced the Russian Anton Shcherbak for causing the death of two crew members of the ship M/V Adrian, in violation of international standards of maritime safety.  The incident occurred in 2013 in Liberian flag vessel anchored in Macapa.  The charge was offered to the Federal Court last week.

Charges:

  • Russian engineer for being negligent and omitted the necessary precautions to prevent the death of the victims.
  • The reported was the official function of the ship’s machinery and ignored technical rules on security of maritime activity to determine the permanence of subordinates, unsupervised, in a closed environment with a high concentration of toxic gases.

The victims, Krisner Lopes Yu and Jerryme Tabunan Gundaya, both of Filipino nationality, inhaled excessive amount of hydrogen sulfide while they were confined in the ship’s pump room.

They fainted and fell into the water that accumulated at the bottom of the bay and drowned.

Shcherbak faces up to three years in prison for each death.  The MPF says that it plans to use international legal processes to bring the chief engineer to Brazil.  It plans to seek testimony from the Adrian’s Ukrainian master through a treaty between Brasilia and Kiev.

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Source: MZ Portal