S. KOREAN POLICE BLAME FREIGHTER : 2ND MATE MAY BE INDICTED IN YACHT DEATHS.Byline: Sang-Hun Choe Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. Police blamed a South Korean freighter Tuesday for ramming and sinking an American yacht last year, killing three members of a Saugus family. The 46-foot Melinda Lee sank off the northern tip of New Zealand New Zealand (zē`lənd), island country (2005 est. pop. 4,035,000), 104,454 sq mi (270,534 sq km), in the S Pacific Ocean, over 1,000 mi (1,600 km) SE of Australia. The capital is Wellington; the largest city and leading port is Auckland. on Nov. 24. Judith Ann Sleavin, 43, a former Santa Clarita Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, city engineer, was the sole survivor. Killed were her 9-year-old son, Benjamin, her 7-year-old daughter, Anna, and her husband, Michael, 42. Police have said previously that the South Korean log carrier Pan Grace might have been involved, but Tuesday was the first time they made the accusation. Han Sang-yoon, 26, a second mate
A Second Mate (2/M) or Second Officer is a licensed member of the deck department of a merchant ship. of the Pan Grace, faced possible indictment on charges of neglecting safety measures safety measures, n.pl actions (e.g., use of glasses, face masks) taken to protect patients and office personnel from such known hazards as particles and aerosols from high-speed rotary instruments, mercury vapor, radiation exposure, anesthetic and on the night when the 27,000-ton ship crashed into the yacht in rough seas, officials said. Officials in the district prosecutor's office in the western port city of Inchon said they have not decided whether to formally indict in·dict tr.v. in·dict·ed, in·dict·ing, in·dicts 1. To accuse of wrongdoing; charge: a book that indicts modern values. 2. Han. Prosecutors earlier had rejected a police request to arrest him, police said. ``Mr. Han saw a red light and altered his ship's course to avoid it, but he should have taken more safety measures,'' police investigator Son Jae-seo said Tuesday. Han was the ship's duty officer at the time of the accident. Police formally booked him Monday for accidental homicides arising out of his duties and asked the prosecution to indict him. If convicted on such charges, Han could face a maximum of five years in prison. The Melinda Lee was sailing from the Tonga islands to New Zealand when the tragedy happened. Sleavin washed ashore on New Zealand's North Island after drifting for a day and a half on a life raft. She fractured two vertebrae Vertebrae Bones in the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar regions of the body that make up the vertebral column. Vertebrae have a central foramen (hole), and their superposition makes up the vertebral canal that encloses the spinal cord. as she scrambled on to rocks. No Pan Grace crewmen admitted seeing the accident. But they testified that because of bad sea conditions, their ship could have hit the yacht without them being aware of it. Son said that although circumstantial evidence circumstantial evidence In law, evidence that is drawn not from direct observation of a fact at issue but from events or circumstances that surround it. If a witness arrives at a crime scene seconds after hearing a gunshot to find someone standing over a corpse and holding a strongly suggests the ship's involvement, police waited for the results of scientific analysis of paint chips found on the bow (Naut.) on that part of the horizon within 45° on either side of the line ahead. - Totten. See also: Bow of the freighter. The state-run National Institute of Scientific Investigation said the blue paint chips were identical with the paint used on the American yacht. In California, a San Diego boating newspaper, The Log, quoted the chief U.S. Coast Guard investigator as saying it took five minutes before the course correction ordered by Han actually took place. The U.S. investigator, Lt. Cmdr. Bob Acker, also criticized the Sleavins for having their yacht on automatic pilot in heavy weather and not maintaining a deck watch, The Log said. ``As far as our position is concerned, they don't have definite evidence that our ship was involved. It is highly unusual for police to make criminal charges for a sea accident,'' said Paek Jin-hak of the Seoul-based Pan Ocean Shipping Co., which owns the ship. Paek refused further comment, pending prosecution action on the case. |
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