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19.3°C clear sky

clear sky

Time Zones:

New York

Malta

Shanghai

" Serving the world...

...from Malta "

Erika's Disaster Judgement

22 / 01 / 08

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Last Wednesday 16th January 2008 a court in Paris has been reported to have sentenced French oil group Total, RINA and the MT ERIKA’s Italian owner and manager to pay damages and compensation to the states of Brittany and France following the sinking of the Maltese registered ERIKA off Brittany in 1999.

 

The court ruled that Total, the classification society and the ship’s Italian owner and manager were jointly responsible for causing maritime pollution. Total has been fined €375,000, RINA has been fined €175,000 and Giuseppe Savarese and Antonio Pollara, the Erika’s former owner and manager respectively, have each been fined €75,000.

 

All charges against the charterer of the Erika and the tanker’s captain, Karun Mathur, who was jailed after the incident, have been dropped.

 

RINA’ C.E.O., Mr Ugo Salerno, promised to appeal following the judgement. "While we respect the Court’s decision, we now need time to carefully review this detailed judgement and understand how they have reached this conclusion" Mr Salerno was reported saying.

 

Meanwhile Total, who was fined for negligence in the vetting and selection of ships, is considering appealing against the court’s ruling saying it was impossible to have known about the state of corrosion in the Erika’s structure which according to the court’s judgement caused the sinking nine years ago.

Erika's Disaster Judgement

22 / 01 / 08

Share Article on 

Last Wednesday 16th January 2008 a court in Paris has been reported to have sentenced French oil group Total, RINA and the MT ERIKA’s Italian owner and manager to pay damages and compensation to the states of Brittany and France following the sinking of the Maltese registered ERIKA off Brittany in 1999.

 

The court ruled that Total, the classification society and the ship’s Italian owner and manager were jointly responsible for causing maritime pollution. Total has been fined €375,000, RINA has been fined €175,000 and Giuseppe Savarese and Antonio Pollara, the Erika’s former owner and manager respectively, have each been fined €75,000.

 

All charges against the charterer of the Erika and the tanker’s captain, Karun Mathur, who was jailed after the incident, have been dropped.

 

RINA’ C.E.O., Mr Ugo Salerno, promised to appeal following the judgement. "While we respect the Court’s decision, we now need time to carefully review this detailed judgement and understand how they have reached this conclusion" Mr Salerno was reported saying.

 

Meanwhile Total, who was fined for negligence in the vetting and selection of ships, is considering appealing against the court’s ruling saying it was impossible to have known about the state of corrosion in the Erika’s structure which according to the court’s judgement caused the sinking nine years ago.