According to the preliminary investigation, the 7-8-metre-long pleasure boat was sucked under the cargo ship, filled with water and sank almost immediately to the bottom at a depth of 20 metres between the islands of Katten and Lövön in Kungälv municipality.
Two people, a woman and a child, died. A man and another child managed to get out of the sinking boat and were rescued by boaters who had anchored nearby for the night. The man and child are being treated in hospital, and their condition is reported to be stable.
Risk of flight
The ship's captain is now being held by the Gothenburg District Court on probable cause suspicion of manslaughter. The district court assesses that there is a risk that the man will flee.
We had talked about this being a possible outcome, so we are not surprised even though we had hoped for the opposite, the captain's defence lawyer Taavi Tuula tells TT.
A press release from Senior Prosecutor James von Reis states that only the master and the hired pilot were on the bridge at the time of the accident. It is currently unclear what their respective roles were, which is one of several focus areas in the ongoing police investigation.
It has not yet been taken into account how the severe weather conditions affected visibility.
Denies crime
Defence lawyer Taavi Tuula reiterates the previous position, namely that the man denies the crime and disputes responsibility.
He is, under the circumstances, doing well, but it is of course not fun to be locked up in seven square metres. But he is handling it well, he says.
The suspicions of negligence in maritime traffic remain, but are not grounds for detention due to the penalty scale for the crime.
The prosecutor also assesses that the pleasure boat's driver cannot be suspected, or will be suspected, of having violated the Maritime Act. This is taking into account the personal injury that the driver suffered.
Charges must be filed no later than August 14.
