Martina (ship)
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The Martina is a launch that triggered a serious accident on October 2, 1984 on the Norderelbe in the port of Hamburg .
On the evening of October 2, 1984, on a pleasure trip with a birthday party of 43 people on board, she collided with a tow bandage and was pushed under water. 19 people were killed, including 11 children. Several dead were only recovered weeks later further down the Elbe.
The Maritime Administration found that the skipper, who was one of the fatalities, had disregarded the right of way of the towing convoy. It is believed that the visually impaired launch operator overlooked the tugboat pulling the bandage in the dark. During the negotiation before the Hamburg Maritime Administration, serious deficiencies in the Hamburg Port Patent Ordinance, which at that time did not provide for any generally mandatory eye tests for skippers in the Port of Hamburg, became apparent. As a result of the accident, the safety regulations were tightened.
Since the shipowner's liability was limited to the value of the ship and its cargo under the applicable regulations at the time, the protection of passengers was completely inadequate . The legislature therefore took this accident as an opportunity to exclude claims for personal injury from the system of limited liability in rem and introduced a global limitation of liability with the second law of the sea amendment .
On January 29, 1985, an international charity soccer match between Germany and Hungary was played for the victims of this ship disaster in Hamburg , which the guests won 1-0.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Gerhard Seebase: The launch accident in front of the sea office: catastrophe by mistake . In: The time . No. 52/1984 ( online ).