Prosecutor of Genoa disputes false certifications on ships and ferries and Codacons asks for the blocking of RINa certified ships
Genoa. The Public Prosecutor of Genoa, after years, has closed the investigations on the irregular certifications issued to passenger and merchant ships by the Italian Naval Registry. In addition to RINa Service spa, there are fifteen other people, including personnel from the Harbor Master’s Office and captains: all agree in falsifying safety inspections on board ships, merchant ships and even passenger ferries; the hypothesized by the Prosecutor’s Office are 17. The accusations for all are false in public deed because despite failures and problems found on the charges, the safety certifications are still issued.
Falsified machine sales visit reports; electronic documents suppressed; unauthorized access and destruction of data. Unfortunate episodes that also concern the false reports on the Jolly Nero ship, the container ship of the Messina Company, which in May 2013 hit the pilots tower of the port of Genoa causing it to collapse and causing the death of nine people.
According to PM, the ship, certified by RINa and inspected by the Harbor Master’s Office, had sailed with untrue documents and with damage to various on-board equipment. The round of ‘adjunct’ certifications had been discovered by the investigators of the Guardia di Finanza. The false certifications for the Norman Atlantic were also contested: the ferry caught fire in 2014 while sailing on the route between Igoumenitsa and Ancona and nine people died. In 2017, two officers of the Harbor Master’s Office had been suspended while two engineers from the Naval Registry ended up under house arrest.
Meanwhile, Codacons takes the field and yesterday asked the Ministry of Sustainable Infrastructures and Mobility and the General Command of the Port Authority Corps to immediately block the navigation of boats certified by RINa.
“According to what was reported by the mass media, from the investigation of the Judiciary – yes in the request of the Codacons – it would have emerged that it would have emerged that anti of ships, inspectors of the RINa certification body and officers of the Port Authority would comply to falsify the outcome of the checks safety on board merchant ships and ferries “.
“A hypothesis that, if confirmed, continues Codacons, would cast a disturbing shadow on the safety of maritime transport in Italy. For this reason, the Association, after the closure of the investigations by the Judiciary and following the serious disputes, asks the Ministry of Infrastructures and all the Capitanerie to block the ships subjected to RINa certification in the ports and to urgently submit them to a confirmation test. by MIMS, in order to avoid damage to shipowners while guaranteeing the protection of the safety of the passengers on the boats and the protection of the environment, in order to avoid accidents at sea that could be harmful to the marine environment “.
Abele Carruezzo