YONHAP NEWS

(LEAD) Owners, captains of two ships indicted for negligence in oil spill

   SEOSAN, South Korea, Jan. 21 (Yonhap) -- Prosecutors on Monday indicted the owners of the two ships that crashed and caused the worst oil spill in South Korean history last month, while the government started providing belated compensation to residents on the west coast.

   The Dec. 7 crash was "a case of mutual negligence" by Samsung Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. and the Hong Kong-registered Hebei Spirit Shipping Co., said Oh In-seo, a senior prosecutor in the prosecutors' office in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province.

   Over 12,000 tons of crude oil leaked into the West Sea off Taean County, South Chungcheong Province, when a Samsung barge carrying a crane separated from its tugboats and struck the oil tanker named the Heibei Spirit in bad weather. The massive spill from the tanker destroyed fish farms and natural parks in the ecologically pristine region, devastating the livelihoods of about 40,000 residents in the fisheries and tourism sectors.

   The prosecution also indicted three South Korean captains from the Samsung barge and the oil tanker's captain and its navigator, both Indian nationals, for negligence and violations of South Korea's maritime pollution prevention law, Oh said. But only two of the Samsung captains were physically detained. The suspects' names were all withheld because the investigation is underway.

   Announcing the interim results of the probe, the prosecution said it was too early to determine which side should bear more responsibility for the accident.

   "We've been searching for and confiscating evidence to find new facts, but it is difficult at this moment to clearly say which side is more responsible and to what extent," a prosecutor said.

   With no payment from insurers yet, three residents of Taean, devastated by the destruction of their livelihoods, have committed suicide.

   The tragic deaths spurred an outpouring of private donations, while the Korean government was pushed to take money out of its state coffers. Lee One-koo, governor of South Chungcheong Province, said 55.8 billion won (US$59 million) -- 30 billion won from individual donations -- will be delivered to the residents "over the next three to four days."
Six counties and towns will divide the funds, with Taean County taking about 70 percent of the compensation, Lee said.

   According to international law on maritime pollution accidents, the 146,000-ton super tanker Hebei Spirit is directly responsible for the oil leak and paying compensation. The Hebei Spirit then can raise a compensation claim to Samsung Heavy, whose barge was the initial cause of the collision.

   Assuranceforeningen Skuld, the insurer of the Hong Kong-registered supertanker, will pay as much as US$12 billion toward labor costs for cleaning up the shoreline, Bloomberg reported, quoting the insurer's e-mailed statement.

   Other compensation should also come from the International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds, an intergovernmental organization.

   Samsung Heavy planned to issue a public apology on Tuesday following the interim result of the probe. According to its insurance policy, Samsung Heavy is legally responsible for no more than 3.4 billion won (US$3.6 million) in damage compensation, but public calls have mounted on Samsung to take "unlimited responsibility" beyond its legal burden.

   Samsung Heavy has expressed reservations about the public demand.

   Korean legislators are pushing for the legislation of a bill under which the government would compensate the victims first and recoup the funds via insurance payments from the companies responsible. The legislation also seeks to put more burden on Samsung Heavy for the environmental damage.

   hkim@yna.co.kr
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