The captain and chief officer of a research vessel that sank off Penghu more than two years ago were indicted on charges of professional negligence leading to the death of two people.
The Ocean Researcher V, carrying 45 people, hit two underwater reefs off Penghu on Oct. 10, 2014, and sank in bad weather.
Academia Sinica research fellow Hsu Shih-chieh (許世傑) and Lin Yi-chun (林怡君) of the Taiwan Ocean Research Institute died in the accident.
After two years of investigation, prosecutors found that Chief Officer Lin Chia-wei (林家威) failed to pinpoint the ship’s location and direct the vessel away from shallow reefs, Penghu District Chief Prosecutor Liu Chun-liang (劉俊良) said.
Investigators also determined that Captain Huang Yu-fa (黃余發) had not provided proper supervision of the chief officer in the execution of his duties, Liu said.
On the fateful day, the vessel had departed from Tainan’s Anping Harbor for Kinmen with 45 people onboard, but had to turn around due to inclement weather.
The boat began to veer off course along the eastern coast of Jibei Islet near Penghu, according to an investigation report issued by the Maritime and Port Bureau in March 2015, based on information retrieved from the ship’s voyage data recorder and undersea photographs.
Although the sea was rough, the onboard equipment should have alerted the crew that the vessel was off course and allowed them to make corrections, but the captain and the chief officer failed to address the problem, the bureau said.
The bureau’s findings were substantiated by the crew, including the captain, chief and second and third officers, during questioning by prosecutors, and also by the data obtained from the VDR and other equipment.
The 2,700-tonne Ocean Researcher V, built in Taiwan at a cost of NT$1.46 billion (US$47.07 million at the current exchange rate), belonged to the National Applied Research Laboratories.
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