Key black box data from the notorious Sage Sagittarius appear to have gone missing, the New South Wales Coroner Court, which is investigating two of the three deaths that occurred on board the ship, was told during yesterday’s coroner’s inquest hearing.
The vessel’s chief cook, Cesar Llanto, went missing in April 2012 while the ship was en route in the Coral Sea.
The incident was followed by the death of chief engineer Hector Collado, who is believed to had fell from an 11-metre deck to a deck below while en route to New Castle, whereas the third incident happened in October while the ship was unloading in Japan when a worker died after being crushed in a conveyer belt.
The third worker has been identified as the company’s chief superintendent Kosaku Monji, who boarded the ship as part of an internal investigation into the previous two deaths.
The Japanese Hachiuma Steamship Company that operates the ship allegedly had video recordings from the days the deaths took place.
However, during questioning via a video link the general manager of Hachiuma, Kazuhiro Hayashi, said he was not able to find anything, the Daily Telegraph writes.
Hayashi could not say whether the said material had been stored on the days Collado and Monji died.
Moreover, Hayashi added that the company had not informed the police in Japan or the local transport safety body about the deaths of the cook and the engineer at the time, the daily added.
During the previous inquest hearings it was said that the two crew members were likely to had met with foul play , as the ship’s captain was accused of physically assaulting the crew. The captain also admitted to taking a commission for selling guns to crew members while on board the ship.
The company has been requested by Coroner Sharon Freund to provide all emails, reports and documents relating to the company’s crisis meetings following the deaths, along with relevant VDR recordings.
World Maritime News Staff