Wolfgang Schröder (captain)

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Wolfgang Schröder (* 1947 or 1948; † August 16, 2010 off Adrigole , County Cork ) was a German captain in the merchant navy . He gained notoriety when he was the rescuer of the Herald of Free Enterprise disaster and saved many people from drowning. In 2006 he was sentenced to prison in the USA because his ship rammed a bridge crane due to a technical defect, killing a dock worker.

Herald of Free Enterprise

On the night of March 6, 1987, the Herald of Free Enterprise capsized  off the port of Zeebrugge with 459 passengers and 80 crew members on board. In addition to a command of the Belgian Navy that had held an exercise nearby, the RoRo and trailer freighter Gabriele Wehr under the command of Wolfgang Schröder was the first to be on site and took in shipwrecked people. After the rescue, Schröder received honors from the British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and the Belgian King Baudouin .

Accident in mobile

On 2 March 2006 it arrived at the port of Mobile , Alabama , when Maneuvering during a disaster. The ZIM Mexico III , a container ship of the Hamburger shipping company Rickmers , rammed after the failure of the thruster a container bridge , which broke down and the electrician Shawn Jacobs killed. The bridge driver was uninjured, but was unable to work due to a post-traumatic stress disorder .

After an initial investigation, Schröder initially continued to work on board, but was later asked to be questioned by the police in Houston and arrested. He was convicted of negligent homicide under the Seaman's Manslaughter Statute of 1838 . Until his sentence was later determined, he was held in the Baldwin County Jail in Bay Minette . After four months, his further sentence was suspended by a judge and Schröder had to leave the United States. Numerous observers, including senior seafarers and diplomats, viewed the guilty verdict and the conditions of detention as scandalous.

death

Schröder had an accident on August 16, 2010 on a fishing trip in Bantry Bay , near the port of Adrigole in County Cork . He was aboard the Castaway, a 25-foot yacht, when a fire broke out. The four crew members had to leave the boat. Three died in the water, including Schröder.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michael Streck: "I want to go to sea again" , Stern, February 8, 2007.
  2. ↑ Technical data of the ZIM Mexico III .
  3. ↑ Katja Ridderbusch: Why a German captain is locked up in the USA , Die Welt, January 29, 2007.
  4. ↑ Michael Chalos, Eugene O'Connor Chalos: The ZIM MEXICO III incident and the trial of Captain Schroeder - The complete saga , Gard News, issue 187, October 2007.
  5. ↑ Markus Bäuchle: A fishing trip with no return , Ireland News, August 19, 2010.
  6. ^ Three die in Cork boat fire , Irish Echo, August 17, 2010.
personal data
SURNAME Schröder, Wolfgang
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German captain of the merchant navy
DATE OF BIRTH 1947 or 1948
DATE OF DEATH August 16, 2010