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Indian captain seeks million-dollar damages for Erika oil spill
AFP
PARIS
Petroleumworld.com 05 31 07The Indian captain of the Erika, the tanker at the centre of a major oil spill off France in 1999, filed Wednesday for a million dollars in compensation for income he has lost since the shipwreck.
Karun Mathur is one of more than 15 parties facing charges in a major trial that opened in February in Paris to pin down responsibility for the pollution to France's Atlantic coastline.
Represented in court by his lawyers, Mathur asked for more than 730,000 euros (980,000 dollars) in damages from the ship's owners and operators -- also charged in the case -- on grounds he has been unable to find a suitable job since.
Rejecting charges of endangering lives and of sparking pollution through negligence, the ship's captain says he is a victim in the case.
Unemployed for two years after the disaster, Mathur now works in a "humble port job and will never find another ship," said one of his lawyers.
He is asking for two years of his former salary -- 94,128 euros -- plus the difference between his former and current wage for the next 25 years -- 588,300 euros -- and 50,000 euros in moral damages: a total of 732,428 euros.
His request targets the Italian maritime certification company RINA, a member of its board Gianpiero Ponasso, the Italian owner of the Erika, Giuseppe Savarese, and his manager Antonio Pollara.
A 25-year-old rusting tanker, Erika was carrying 30,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil when it broke in two and sank off France's Brittany coast on December 12, 1999, polluting huge stretches of coastline and killing thousands of seabirds.
Fifteen parties including Total, the tanker owners, a charter company, a vessel classification firm and maritime authorities are in the dock on various charges of endangering lives, causing pollution or failing to respond to a disaster.
The French state is seeking 153 million euros in damages to cover the cost of the cleanup and recovery of the wreckage while many of the 70 plaintiffs in the case are demanding hefty compensation.
AFP 30 1606 GMT 05 07
Copyright© 2007 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
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