Rina formally charged over Erika disaster

by Franco Aloisio

The Italian classification society Rina has been formally charged with putting human lives in danger by the French Magistrate investigating the causes of the Erika disaster, according to yesterday’s Lloyds List.
The newspaper reported that a Rina executive has also been charged on the same count, according to French reports citing judicial sources.
As with the charges laid against other parties in the course of the investigation being led by examining magistrate Dominique Talancé, no official announcement has been made nor explanation given as to the reasons for her decision to press charges.
Rina, which was responsible for certifying the seaworthiness of the Erika, is believed to be the first organisation to have been charged over the sinking of the oil tanker, which took place in December 1999 causing a major ecological disaster in the west coast of France.
A number of individuals have already been charged with putting human lives in danger. Three days after the break-up of the Erika, Karun Mathur, the ship’s captain, was charged with endangering lives and causing marine pollution. He was placed in custody for a week before being released and allowed to return home to India.
In May, after having been authorised to extend the scope of their investigation, the French authorities charged Giuseppe Savarese, owner of the Erika, and Antonio Pollara, of the ship management company Panship, with causing marine pollution and deliberate failure to take measures to combat the casualty, as well as putting human lives in danger.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the Intertanko Safety Technical & Environmental Committee, Nikos Mikelis, said in yesterday’s Lloyds List “letters to the editor” that Malta’s report on the Erika disaster was a model of forensics.
Writing about the criticism levelled against the Malta report, Mr Mikelis said the Malta Maritime Authority investigation was conducted with rare professionalism, intelligence, tenacity and purpose.