Vietnam - No insurance payouts for 22 missing sailors

The families of 22 sailors of Vinalines Queen cargo ship who went missing after the ship sank off the Philippine coast in late December 2011 have yet to receive compensation from the insurer, PetroVietnam Insurance Joint Stock Corporation (PVI).

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Tran Cong Hop, brother of Tran Ba Truc, chief engineer of the missing boat, told Tuoi Tre that every family of the victims has so far received only VND300 million (US$14,400) as initial support from Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines) and an amount out of the VND1.1 billion humanitarian donation given by Hudson Shipping Lines, a US sea transporter.

Meanwhile, six months after the accident, PVI has yet to pay any insurance compensation to these families, Hop said.

Bui Van Cac, deputy director of Vinalines, confirmed with Tuoi Tre that the company has completed all procedures required by PVI in relation to compensation but he did not know why PVI had yet to make payments.

The maximum total insurance coverage for each sailor is US$40,000, said Nguyen Canh Viet, general director of the Vietnam Maritime Cooperation, the holding company of Vinalines.

PVI says it has transferred money

Vu Bao Lam, deputy general director of PVI, said the firm has transferred VND4.4 billion ($211,000) as advance payment to a bank account belonging to the Vietnam Maritime Corporation in January 2012.

This payment can be verified by examining banking documents, Lam said.

With such a payment, every family would have received about $10,000 in advance, he added.

Lam said the firm would make additional payments after concerned agencies complete conclusion about the accident, as stipulated in the Law on Maritime.

Under the signed insurance policy, the maximum compensation for each victim is US$25,000, he clarified.

Do Duc Tien, deputy head of the Vietnam Maritime Corporation, disagreed, saying the investigation into the incident is aimed at identifying the cause of the accident and not at serving the insurance payouts.

As previously reported, the ship with 23 sailors on board sank on December 25, 2011 in the area northeast of the Philippines’ Luzon island while carrying 54,400 tons of nickel ore from Indonesia to China.

The only survivor of the accident is 31-year-old Dau Ngoc Hung, who returned to Vietnam on January 4, 2012. He was rescued by British ship London Courage on December 30, 2011 when he was drifting at sea.

Vinalines organized a requiem for the 22 missing sailors at Thang Phuc pagoda in the northern port city of Hai Phong on January 9.

http://www.tuoitrenews.vn/

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