Owner and captain of capsized dhow face trial this month

Manama: The owner and captain of a dinner cruise boat that capsized in March, leaving 58 dead, will go on trial this month on charges of involuntary manslaughter, Bahrain's public prosecutor said.

Prosecutor Ali Al Buainain filed a formal case Wednesday in Bah-rain's criminal court against the owner, Bahraini Abdullah Al Kubaisi, and the captain Rajendrakumar Ramjibhai, an Indian national.

The boat, a traditional dhow vessel refitted as a pleasure boat, overturned in calm seas as it made a sharp turn off the east coast of Bahrain on March 30.

It was jammed with an unwieldy load of around 130 passengers, mostly Indian and British employees of a South Africa-based company and its partners celebrating construction of Bahrain's World Trade Centre.

The court's first session is expected on June 6, when prosecutors say they will file a technical report accusing Al Kubaisi of operating and modifying the dhow without permit or following safety regulations. Both defendants will go on trial simultaneously, Al Buainain said.

Al Kubaisi's defence lawyer, Abdul Rahman Ghunaim, said he plans to object to the introduction of the technical report as evidence, which, he said, was compiled by a team headed by an official who is not impartial.

Survivors have said the boat was swaying precariously even before it left the dock in Manama, and that more than a dozen passengers disembarked before it set sail because of worries over its stability.

The boat's captain and the party organiser contacted Al Kubaisi and warned him about the situation, but he ordered the boat to sail, according to a statement prosecutors released in April.

Prosecutors have said the captain and assistant did not have sailing licences. Al Kubaisi had applied for a licence to use the boat for cruises, but had not yet met the requirements, the statement said.

The coast guard "had not issued him a coastal transport licence, and he organised the ill-fated cruise without a licence," it said.

Waters were calm as the Al Dana began its cruise, survivors have said. But as the boat was swaying even before setting sail, organisers asked some people to stay below deck to maintain the ship's balance.

After the partygoers ate dinner, the boat turned to head back to shore and listed sharply, sending people and chairs on the upper deck sliding into the water. Then the boat overturned completely, trapping dozens below deck, survivors said.

Survivors have said the boat was swaying precariously even before it left the dock in Manama, and that more than a dozen passengers disembarked before it set sail because of worries over its stability.