The Constitutional Court has upheld the constitutionality of a law punishing those who fail to report safety defects of a ship in a case involving the 2017 sinking of the South Korean bulk carrier Stellar Daisy off the South Atlantic.

After the sinking, it was revealed that ship officials knew of the ship’s deficiencies, including its partition wall being warped in 2016, and a water leakage occurring in the ballast water tank the following year, but they did not report them to authorities.

Under the Ship Safety Act, whoever discovers defects in seaworthiness, or the ability to secure conditions to travel safely on the sea, or in the safety equipment, must report to the fisheries minister. If violated, the owner of the vessel or the captain is punishable by up to one year in prison or 10 million won (US$ 7,263) in fines.

The CEO of Stellar Daisy’s operator, Kim Wan-joong, and other officials were indicted for failing to report the ship’s defects, and Kim was given a six-month prison term by the higher cour
t.

Kim filed a petition asking the court for a constitutional review of the act, claiming the definition of “seaworthiness” is obscure, and the ruling does not follow the proportionality between criminal responsibility and punishment.

In its decision delivered on May 30, the Constitutional Court dismissed the petition in a 6-3 ruling, saying the definition of “defect in seaworthiness” is clear-cut.

“It refers to a defect directly related to seaworthiness, or the ability of a ship to travel safely, under the condition that it does not comply with various assessment standards under the Ship Safety Act,” the court said, adding it is not excessive to place the burden to report such deficiencies.

Source: Yonhap News Agency