Ukrainian boat captain found guilty in Danube River collision that killed at least 27
BUDAPEST, Hungary — The captain of a river cruise boat that collided with another vessel on the Danube River in 2019, killing at least 27 people, was found guilty Tuesday of negligence leading to a fatal mass catastrophe and sentenced to 5½ years in prison.
Judge Leona Nemeth in Budapest, Hungary’s capital, found that the negligence of the Ukrainian captain, Yuriy Chaplinsky, had caused his boat, the Viking Sigyn, to run into the tourist boat Hableany (Mermaid) from behind. The much smaller Hableany later sank into the Danube within seconds. Most of those who died were South Korean tourists.
The court acquitted Chaplinsky of 35 counts of failure to render aid. Both Chaplinksy and the prosecution have appealed the court’s decision, and the judge remanded the defendant to house arrest pending a new trial.
The collision occurred May 29, 2019, beneath Budapest’s Margit Bridge.
Seven South Koreans were rescued from the water in the heavy rain, and 27 bodies were recovered, including those of the two-member Hungarian crew. One South Korean woman is still unaccounted for.
Some of the victims’ bodies were found weeks after the crash more than 60 miles downstream.
Pope Francis has plunged into both sides of Russia’s war with Ukraine, meeting with refugees in Hungary and an envoy of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The Hableany spent more than 12 days underwater at the collision site, near the neo-Gothic Hungarian parliament building, before being lifted from the riverbed by a floating crane.
Chaplinsky has been in Hungarian police custody since the collision, including a period of house arrest since 2020. Part of the time he has already served will count toward his sentence.
In a final statement before the verdict Tuesday, Chaplinksy called the collision a “horrible tragedy” and said that the deaths of “so many innocent victims” kept him awake at night.
“This will stay with me for the rest of my life,” he said.
Three staff members from the South Korean Embassy in Budapest were present for the reading of the verdict, but no family members of the South Korean victims attended the hearing.
After the proceedings, Zsolt Sogor, a lawyer with the prosecution, said the verdict was in line with legal requirements, but that prosecutors believed Chaplinsky was liable for failing to render aid to the Hableany after the collision.
“I feel sorry for this person. He really did commit [this act] negligently,” Sogor said. “But our opinion differs from that of the court in that according to our perspective, the captain of a ship must act. It’s not enough that his sailors go and perform a rescue. He should have coordinated the entire rescue to save human lives.”
“We will see what happens during the appeal. It’s possible [the sentence] will be harsher, but one thing is for sure: It won’t be reduced,” he said.
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