page_title: Sinking of Hableány
section_title: Incident
hierarchical_section_title: Sinking of Hableány / Incident
caption_attribution_description: English: The MV Viking Sigyn (ship, 2019) at Budapest. Magyar: Az MV Viking Sigyn Budapesten 한국어: 부다페스트에서의 바이킹시긴호.
context_page_description: Hableány was a 27-metre sunken river cruiser operated on the Danube river in Budapest, Hungary. On a rainy night, at 9:05 pm of 29 May 2019, the 135-metre Viking Sigyn overtook Hableány but ended up striking and capsizing Hableány. The heavy rainfall and the resulting strong currents hampered rescue efforts, with some bodies found 100 km downstream. With 2 Hungarian crew and 33 South Korean tourists on board, 7 tourists were rescued at the scene; all others were later found to be dead.
  The police found the captain of the sunken Hableány not responsible for the collision, based upon expert opinion; while the captain of the Viking Sigyn, Yuri Chaplinsky, a 64-year-old Ukrainian, went on trial in March 2020. Prosecutors charged Chaplinsky for "reckless misconduct in waterborne traffic leading to mass casualties" and "35 counts of failure to provide assistance" after the collision. During trial, prosecutors criticized him for "distracted for personal reasons" during the crucial first five minutes after his ship left its mooring and "did not radio or send out emergency sound signals".
context_section_description: At approximately 21:05 local time on 29 May 2019, Hableány was rammed amidships portside by Viking Sigyn while crossing under the Margaret Bridge near the Parliament Building on a 457-metre-wide (500 yd) section of the Danube. Hableány had 35 people on board at the time of the collision, including the Hungarian captain and crewman, two South Korean tour guides, and 31 South Korean tourists ranging in age from 6 to 72. The tourists were on a two-week excursion of eastern Europe organized by the Seoul-based Very Good Tour company.
  Following a review of CCTV footage from a nearby vantage point, the police stated that Hableány had capsized under the Margaret Bridge. The vessel had been moving upstream towards the left riverbank to prepare for disembarking and steered left into the path of Viking Sigyn, which had been traveling parallel to Hableány. The rescued passengers had not been wearing life vests, while another South Korean tourist said that cruise boats arranged by tour companies often lacked them. All seven of the rescued survivors had been thrown from the upper observation deck.
caption: Viking Sigyn, operated by Viking Cruises, seen a day after the collision
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