MANAMA, 5 April 2006 — The owner of the boat that capsized off Bahrain’s shores last week, leaving 58 people dead, has been remanded in custody, a prosecution official said yesterday.
Abdullah Al-Qubaisi, from the Al-Dana company that owned the vessel, will be held for a week pending further investigation after charges of involuntary manslaughter were brought against him, said Nawaf Hamza of the Public Prosecutor’s office.
The authorities had earlier arrested the boat’s 30-year-old Indian captain, who they said was not licensed, and his assistant, bringing similar charges.
Hamza said investigations revealed that the ill-fated vessel had sailed with the owner’s knowledge of it being unstable and overcrowded. “The captain contacted the owner when he noticed there were too many passengers ... the owner told him to sail despite this,” said Hamza, quoted by the official BNA news agency.
Hamza also said that twin-decked boat did not meet all government requirements to be eligible to sail and operate as a tourist cruise vessel.
Coast Guard chief Col. Yussef Al-Ghatim said the boat was not licensed to undertake tourist trips and was inaugurated last month on the premise that it was “a floating restaurant, not a passenger vessel.”
Bahraini authorities have vowed to act to improve boat safety around the archipelago following the tragedy, ordering ship owners to prove the seaworthiness of their vessels.
The coast guard command summoned all owners of passenger boats to turn up at his office yesterday and today with a “complete dossier” of documents such as technical safety and insurance certificates, as well as licenses to carry passengers and other permits.
