Ship captain culpable for sunken ship’s environmental damage

Two months ago a cruise ship hit a cluster of rocks near the Greek island of Santorini and subsequently sank. Yesterday, the owners, operators and the captain were fined a hefty $1.57 million for the pollution caused by the sinking of the vessel.

When it sank, the Cypriot-owned Sea Diamond leaked 300 tons of fuel into the clear blue waters of the Aegean Sea. Part of the ruling was based on the fact that after the ship had sunk, there was no action taken to pump the remaining fuel out. Thus captain Yannis Marinos and his superiors at the Louis Group were fined for negligence.

The Santorini port authority had already fined the company to the tune of $12,000 per day just before the incident for the pollution it was causing; a tab that tallied up to $750,000. Captain Marinos and five other crewmembers are still facing criminal charges.

The ship was filled with mostly American tourists at the time of the incident, all of whom were evacuated safely. There were two French nationals on board that are still missing and presumed dead.