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March 03, 2008
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| The third and fourth sessions of the trial to determine responsibility for the oil spill in the Yellow Sea off the Taean Peninsula are scheduled to be held today and tomorrow at the Daejeon District Court. The spill was caused by the Dec. 7 crash of a barge owned by Samsung Heavy Industries Co. and a Hong Kong-based oil tanker. For the first time, the session will be attended by seven suspects, including representatives from Samsung Heavy and Hebei Ocean Shipping Co., the owner of the tanker. The captains of the Samsung barge, a tugboat and the oil tanker Hebei Spirit will also attend, the court said. Ahead of the court session, Samsung Heavy announced on Friday a donation of $100 billion won ($106.5 million) for development projects to assist residents in Taean. Samsung Heavy and Hebei were charged with violating Korea’s maritime pollution prevention law for causing the country’s worst oil spill. According to prosecutors, the Samsung Heavy Industries’ barge ignored its duty to take shelter in bad weather and crashed into the oil tanker. The Hong Kong shipping company failed to respond to an emergency call from a coastal control center and is also at fault, say prosecutors. Yonhap |
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