MOSCOW, August 3 (Itar-Tass) —— The Russian Prosecutor’ s General established numerous violations in the inland water transport service.
” In connection with the catastrophe of the Bulgaria passenger cruise boat on July 10 the Prosecutor’s General conducted large-scale checks as to whether the law on ensuring safety on inland water transport was observed; numerous violations have been found as a result of the checks. The situation on inland water transport routes remains difficult,” spokeswoman for the Russian Prosecutor’s General Marina Gridneva told Itar-Tass.
More than 700 boats have been in service for more than 30 years. Besides, ship owners neglect their duties to maintain the boats in a proper technical condition and ensure safe navigation. Navigation with not fully staffed crews, the absence of licensing documents and the necessary rescue facilities, violations of maximum passenger seating capacity norms turned into a widespread practice, Gridneva said.
Transportation of children by water transport without rescue facilities on board poses a threat to their life during transportation, Gridneva said. The spokeswoman mentioned an incident in the Far Eastern region where a total of 94 children were shipped from an orphanage for problem children despite the shortage of children’s safety belts on board which numbered 13 only.
Transport prosecutors established other outrageous violations of the law, such as using uncertified safety equipment and engines which do not conform to the boat’s technical specification, Gridneva stressed. It was established that in St. Petersburg, Tatarstan, Chuvashia and the Nizhny Novgorod region ship owners when transporting passengers used navigation equipment with counterfeit software in a foreign language, Gridneva said.