News

The investigating bodies of the Far Eastern Transport Investigations Directorate of the Russia’s Investigative Committee have finished investigating a criminal case against the CEO of Nikolayevsky-on-Amur sea port OJSC. He is charged with a crime under part 3 of article 263 of the RF Penal Code (violation of the rules for traffic safety and operation of sea transport by a person by virtue of official position obliged to the rules, entailing by negligence death of two or more people).

According to investigators between Nikolayevsky-on-Amur sea port represented by its CEO and the firm Polimetall concluded a contract on transportation of ore. To execute the contract during the whole navigation season of 2012 the CEO used Amurskaya ship not designed for transportation of cargoes inclined to dilution, which the CEO was perfectly aware of. On 27 September 2012, on an unequipped piece of shore near the village of Kiran, Tuguro-Chumikansky district in Khabarovsk Territory the Amurskaya was loaded by inadmissible way, namely by drying the ship (that is by placing the ship on the ground during low tide and putting it back in water during the rising tide after the loading) with 750 tonnes of ore, which exceeds the maximum freight-carrying capacity by 100 tonnes. This and bad weather conditions expected during the voyage were reported by the captain to the CEO by the phone.

The CEO understanding that with such violations further operation of the ship in bad weather could be dangerous and wanting to make as much profit as possible, ordered to go into the voyage and the ship set off to the place of unshipping in the village of Okhotsk in Khabarovsk Territory. As a result on 28 September 2012, at 8:53 AM, the alarm beacon on the Amurskaya went on indicating an accident. On 7 November 2012, in the bay of Udskaya Guba in the Sea of Okhotsk the Amurskaya was found wrecked 25 meters deep under water.

The technical cause of the wreck was loss of stability resulted from depressurization and water in inner sections of the ship. During the examination of the ship the specialists found a body of man, who had not been a crewmember and whose identity it was impossible to find. 9 crewmembers are still unaccounted for.

The investigators have gathered enough evidence and the case with the approved indictment has been forwarded to the court to be tried on the merits.