Four people from a shipping company in Yantai in East China's Shandong Province were prosecuted recently by the local procuratorate for a serious maritime accident that happened in late 1999, China Procuratorial Daily reported Wednesday.
The sinking of the ferry "Dashun'' resulted in the death of a total of 282 passengers and was one of the worst maritime accidents in China's history.
The four prosecuted included Gao Feng, manager of the Shandong Yanda Automobile Ferry Co, Ltd, Yu Chuanlong, vice-manager in charge of safety, and Du Jijun and Fan Shihui, two safety supervisors of the company.
At 1 pm on November 24, 1999, the ferry ``Dashun,'' run by the company, left Yantai for Dalian in Northeast China's Liaoning Province, with 304 passengers and 61 vehicles on board.
At 3:30 pm, the ship hit a storm and was forced to turn back. While it was changing its course, the vehicles on board, which were not adequately secured, started to crash against each other, eventually starting a fire on the deck.
At 11:38 pm, the ship sank, resulting in the death of 282 people and a loss of 900 million yuan (US$108 million).
Investigation showed that the Yanda company's safety measures were inadequate and that it should be held responsible for the accident.
Gao and Yu failed to reconsider the schedule of the ship when warned of the approach of a cold front and strong winds on the day of departure.
The two men had before this time paid no attention to the demands of relevant departments that they take measures to eliminate the hidden troubles in their company.
Du and Fan ignored the fact that the vehicles on the ship were not fastened tightly when they checked the ship. Du even gave the completed safety check permit to the owner of the ship ahead of time.
Last November, the four were removed from their positions as punishment and Li Chunting, governor of Shandong Province, and Huang Zhendong, the minister of communications, were also punished.
(China Daily 05/31/2001)
