Cruise captain charged over tourist boat tragedy

Amazing view from Budapest.

The captain of a Viking longship that caused a mass fatality event has been charged with criminal misconduct.

Local reports have revealed that the captain of the Viking Sigyn longship, which collided and sank another vessel on the Danube River earlier this year, has been charged with criminal misconduct leading to mass casualties by a Hungary court.

The 64-year-old Ukraine captain, identified by police as C Yuriy from Odessa, has also been charged with 35 counts of failing to provide assistance after the collision, the Budapest chief prosecutor’s office told local media.

Yuriy faces a nine-year jail sentence.

In June, the captain of the vessel was denied bail after the Viking Sigyn collided with a river cruise ship near the Hungarian parliament building. The 70-year-old Mermaid sightseeing boat sank with 33 South Korean tourists on board, along with two Hungarian crew members.

Seven tourists were rescued from the water after the collision, but the rest of the passengers on board the Mermaid vessel tragically died. The body of one of the accident’s 28 victims has still not been recovered, according to local media reports.

According to the indictment levelled by a Budapest prosecutor last week, the cruise ship’s captain was “inattentive” and “lost focus on steering the ship for several minutes”, Hungary Today reported.

Further charges allege the captain failed to keep a safe distance and to signal his intention to overtake the river cruise ship.

The district prosecutor is seeking a nine-year prison term for the captain and wants him to be banned from driving for another nine years. The latter sentence would be based on the proviso that the captain plead guilty and waive his right to trial, the outlet reported.

In June, CCTV footage of the moment the boat capsized emerged online, which can be viewed below.

Latest News

  • Conferences

Sydney confirms position as Australia’s No. 1 business events host

Sydney’s reinforced its position as the world’s preferred Australian host city, and top Australian city in the APAC region for international and local business events. Sydney secured 25th place in the worldwide ICCA city rankings and ranked 6th (ICCA) and 3rd (CVENT) in the Asia Pacific region. Tourism Australia also celebrated the ICCA 2023 rankings […]

  • Food & Beverage
  • Hotels

Luke Mangan launches Bistrot Bisou, his first Melbourne restaurant in over a decade

Melbourne-born, Sydney-based chef and restaurateur Luke Mangan will open his first Melbourne restaurant in more than a decade this winter with the launch of Bistrot Bisou, set within the art-focused, character-filled Hotel Indigo. Set on the corner of Flinders Lane and Spencer Street, the relaxed French bistro and bar will feature modern takes on classic […]

  • Luxury

COMO launches new family-sized farmhouse in the heart of Tuscany

COMO Hotels and Resorts has launched its new farmhouse apartments in the heart of Tuscany, just in time for Australians to escape our wet winter. And it’s also an ideal time for Aussies of Italian ancestry to explore their home country as 2024 has been declared the year of Roots and Heritage Tourism by the […]

  • Destinations
  • News

New Caledonia in lockdown and airport closed after violent riots rock Noumea

New Caledonia officials have announced a 6pm-6am curfew, a liquor ban and have closed the country’s main airport after overnight riots in which vehicles were torched and roads blocked in the wake of proposed constitutional reforms. Australian Government website Smartraveller has issued an alert informing visitors to exercise a high degree of caution in metropolitan […]