Police recommend indicting Zim crewman
Police complete investigation into accident between Zim Asia cargo ship, Japanese fishing boat; recommend indictment against Zim vessel's second officer
According to the Police National Fraud Squad, the second officer on the Zim vessel, a Serbian national, was negligent in performing his duty.
Police have gathered sufficient evidence to prosecute the man on charges of negligent homicide and violating Port Authority regulations.
In the case of the ship's Captain Moshe Ben-David, police have not yet issued a conclusive recommendation to the State Prosecution.
Accusations in Japan
The accident, which took place at the end of September this year, spurred a near-diplomatic crisis between the two states.
A Zim Asia cargo ship weighing about 40,000 tons collided with a fishing boat in international waters near Japan's coast, and according to Japanese authorities fled the scene immediately after. Seven fishermen were killed in the accident.
Reports of the accident were published only several days later, while the Zim ship was already on its way to Korea.
The Japanese authorities were furious over the Israeli vessel's crew, after radar data revealed it had continued along its course after hitting the Japanese boat without stopping to offer assistance, as international waters regulations call for.
Zim initially denied that one of its vessels was involved in the collision, but later accepted responsibility for the clash and officially apologized to Japan.
'Ship acted properly'
Police claim the shipping company acted according to regulations and that there was no evidence contradicting the crewmens' statements they first heard of the accident two days after it occurred, while docking in Korea.
The accident took place while the ship was conducting an unusual maneuver, commanded by the second officer who was on deck at the time, police reported.
However, police investigators added that the Japanese boat was also guilty of failing to take proper actions to avoid collision.
