By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that both Samsung Heavy Industries and Hong Kong-based shipping company, Hebei, were guilty of causing the nation's worst oil spill off Taean, South Chungcheong Province, in December 2007, partially upholding an appellate court ruling.
The court confirmed the 30-million-won ($22,300) fines handed down to both companies. However, it overturned jail terms and fines given by the lower court to officials at Samsung and the Hong Kong-registered Hebei Spirit for the oil spill.
The appellate court ― Daejeon District Court ― is to review the jail terms and fines imposed on the officials.
The spill occurred on Dec. 7, 2007, when the Hong Kong-registered supertanker was rammed by a Samsung barge that broke free of towlines attached to tugboats about 11 kilometers off Mallipo, a beach in Taean. Some 12,000 tons of crude oil gushed into the sea, more than twice as much as the nation's previous worst spill in 1995.
In December 2008, the Daejeon court ruled that both Samsung and Hebei were responsible for the damage. Each company was fined 30 million won, while some of their employees were sentenced to imprisonment.
But the top court's judgment overturned the convictions on the 53-year-old captain of the Samsung barge and the 37-year-old captain of the Hebei Spirit tanker and sent the case back to the appellate court for further review.
The two captains had been given 30-month and 18-month jail terms, respectively, and were also fined two million won and 10 million won. Jail sentences and fines on two other Samsung officials and a Hebei crewmember were also repealed.
Currently, a separate civil compensation suit between Taean residents and Samsung Heavy is still underway. Last month, a local court decided to limit the compensation to 5.6 billion won in a case filed by some 7,500 fishermen in the region.
In June of 2008, the International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds estimated the damage from the Taean spill to reach up to 573.5 billion won due to a decrease in tourists and damage to the fishing industry.
The man-made catastrophe played havoc with Taean's maritime ecosystem, including numerous scenic beaches, wildlife habitats, oyster beds and fishing.
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