Dubai: Four sailors die of electrocution on lunch cruise, captain ordered to pay blood money

A forensic laboratory report found that negligence on behalf of the ship owner, as well as the captain's absence, led to the accident

by

Afkar Ali Ahmed

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Published: Thu 24 Nov 2022, 11:00 AM

Last updated: Thu 24 Nov 2022, 3:18 PM

Four sailors have died of electrocution on a lunch cruise due to negligence and a lack of appropriate safety measures put in place by the ship's captain and owner.

The Court of Misdemeanours and Violations convicted the captain and owner of negligence, ordering them to be imprisoned for six months, and to pay the legal blood money to the families of the deceased.

The events of the incident took place last June, when a malfunction was reported on a lunch cruise that sailed from Al Hamriyah Port in Dubai. After the cruise set sail, a maintenance official said, he received a signal to return to the port due to a defect on the ship.

The ship returned to port. After it stopped, one of the sailors could be seen trying to save another inside the vessel's water tank. He had said that the assistant captain asked him and his three other colleagues to empty the water from inside the tank, as there was a slope in one of its corners. The sailors went to do so with a water pump.

The four sailors, along with the assistant captain, entered the tank. When one of them began operating the pump after connecting it to electricity, the men began to be electrocuted.

The assistant captain attempted to save his colleagues – however, as there was no system in place to cut off the electricity, three of his colleagues died while he tried to save them, with the fourth dying minutes later.

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According to the case file, the captain and the owner were both summoned, with the first admitting he was not on board at the time of the incident. In the forensic laboratory report, it was found that the captain's negligence, as well as his absence during the cruise, led to the accident. The report indicated that the owner also did not provide appropriate security and safety measures for the sailors, and that the water pump was unfit for use.


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