AT LAST, the Hebei 2 were recently freed by the Appeal Court in Korea, after 550 days there, some of them spent in prison.
They still face charges of causing pollution. For those of you who don’t know, the Hebei Spirit was stationary – at anchor – when hit by a crane barge that was under tow when a towline parted:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=66J_MazbAfE
This whole sorry saga is an indictment of politicians as a whole who, the world over, react by being seen to be tough rather than fair.
It is also a sad reflection on the Korean Government, which has benefited so much from the shipping industry, yet didn’t have the strength of character to deal with the incident intelligently.
Well done V.Ships for campaigning and supporting the Hebei Two throughout.
