VoaNews.com reports that, “the captain of a river cruise ship that collided with a smaller sightseeing vessel was charged Saturday over the accident in Budapest that killed seven South Korean tourists and left 21 missing.
The Mermaid, carrying mainly South Korean tourists, overturned and sank late Wednesday (May 29), seconds after colliding with the Viking Sigyn cruise ship on a busy stretch of the Danube in the heart of Budapest.”
The 64 year old captain of the Viking Sigyn was detained and questioned about the horrific accident.
Rescue efforts have been hampered by heavy rains and strong currents in the Danube making the recovery of passengers extremely difficult. One of the Viking cruise ship accident victim’s bodies was recovered 7 miles down river – an indication of how difficult it has been for recovery operations as they’ve had to search many miles of heavily trafficked river in their search.
Viking Sigyn is a Viking River Cruises ship and is billed as having “innovative engineering, streamlined design and understated elegance for the most comfortable river cruise experience available.”
The Viking River Cruises passenger contract, which outlines a passengers ability to bring an injury claim against the cruise line, is complex. You can review the passenger ticket contract here.