Viking Sigyn accidents and incidents

29 May 2019Ship Collision / Allision

On May 29, 2019, during a storm (torrential rain) in homeport Budapest (Hungary), the Viking longship Sigyn collided with and sank a small tour boat carrying 35 people. The Viking cruise ship collided with an 89-ft (27-m) long sightseeing boat Hableany  (translated Mermaid) on Danube River near Budapest's Parliament building. The ship crashed into the boat from behind, before the small vessel spun sideways on impact, then capsized and sunk in just 7 seconds.

The tour boat Hableany (MMSI 243070620, max capacity 60, sightseeing cruise capacity 45) was operated by Panorama Boat company. No injuries or damages were reported on the Viking longship. all the 33x South Korean tourists on the boat were without life jackets.

The small boat was passing under Margit Bridge when the larger (442-ft / 135-m long) Viking ship clipped her stern and spun it. Initially were announced 7 dead and 21 missing South Koreans (including a 6-year-old girl and a 72-year-old man). Seven tourists (in stable conditions) were ambulanced to a hospital. They were suffering from hypothermia as the river's water temperature was ~10 C (50 F). Three dead bodies were soon found approx 3 km /2 mi from the crash scene. South Korea sent its own rescue teams to Budapest to support the search-and-rescue operations.

The Hungarian police started a criminal investigation into the accident. Among the questioned was Sigyn ship's Captain Yuriy Chaplinsky (64-year-old Ukrainian, from Odessa). He was arrested on June 1st and charged with "reckless misconduct in waterborne traffic leading to mass casualties". On June 13, he was released from custody after a Hungarian court granted him bail (set at EUR 45,800 / USD 53,000).

The accident resulted in total 28 deaths, including 26 Korean tourists and 2 crew members.