Yuri Chaplinsky was found guilty of endangering water transport leading to a deadly mass accident.
25 South Korean tourists and two crew members died in the May 20, 2019, collision on the Danube River.
On May 20, 2019, the Mermaid sightseeing boat carrying 33 South Korean tourists and two Hungarian crew members sank within seconds after colliding with the much larger Viking Sigyn river cruise vessel. Yuri Chaplinsky – now 68 and at the helm of the larger Sigyn vessel – was found guilty of endangering water transport leading to a deadly mass accident, the Budapest court judge said.Before the verdict, the captain voiced his “immense regret” for the 2019 disaster.
Only seven South Koreans could be rescued, while 25 died, along with both Hungarian crew members, including the Mermaid’s captain.According to prosecutors, Chaplinsky, the person steering the 2,000-tonne Sigyn, did not concentrate on his duties for at least five minutes and was unaware of the dangerous proximity of the much smaller Mermaid, failing to slow down and steer away from it, or send radio alarm.