Investigators Blame Korean Ship in Fatal Ramming of Yacht

Assigning blame for a high-seas disaster that killed three members of a Santa Clarita family, maritime investigators said Tuesday that a South Korean freighter rammed and sank the family’s yacht in the South Pacific last year.

South Korean police said the log carrier Pan Grace hit the 47-foot Melinda Lee on Nov. 24 off New Zealand. Streaks of blue paint visible on the freighter’s hull match the yacht’s blue bottom paint, linking the freighter to the crash, according to the Associated Press in a dispatch from South Korea.

The U.S. Coast Guard, maritime authorities in New Zealand and South Korean investigators have long suspected the 27,000-ton Pan Grace in the accident. The announcement Tuesday marked the first formal accusation of blame.

A Coast Guard report on the crash is due to be released in the next few weeks. Sources have indicated it will call the Pan Grace the “proximate cause” of the sinking of the Melinda Lee, which went down in rough seas off New Zealand’s North Island.

Killed were Michael Sleavin, 42, and children Benjamin, 9, and Anna, 7. Judith Ann Sleavin, 41, was the sole survivor. She washed ashore after clinging to a raft for 42 hours.

The Melinda Lee was en route from the Tonga Islands to New Zealand when it was hit.

Sources close to the investigation said U.S. investigators believe that, despite the heavy weather, the Sleavins were not maintaining a lookout--which the Coast Guard recommends at all times but especially in a storm.

Honolulu-based Lt. Cmdr. Bob Acker, the lead Coast Guard investigator, declined comment Tuesday on that allegation or on reports from Korea, saying he was precluded from responding because the U.S. investigation was not complete.

For weeks, according to the sources, the investigation has focused on scientific evidence that could tie the freighter to the crash--the streaks of blue paint visible on the Pan Grace’s orange hull when it pulled into the port of Inchon, South Korea, in early December.

While waiting to learn if the paint matched, investigators interviewed the crew of the Pan Grace. None admitted seeing the accident.

However, sources said, some crew members did admit that because of the rough seas, their much bigger ship could have hit the small yacht without the crew being aware of it.

Second mate Han Sang-Yoon, 26, told investigators that he recalled seeing a red light near the starboard bow. The sources told The Times, however, that U.S. investigators believe that Han did not make a course correction for another five minutes.

The Pan Grace’s on-board course recorder--similar to the “black boxes” used on airplanes--was “out of commission,” a source said.

On Tuesday, the South Korean National Institute of Scientific Investigation reported that the blue paint on the Pan Grace matched the Melinda Lee’s bottom paint, according to the Associated Pres.

Han faces possible indictment on charges of neglecting safety measures. Although he ultimately altered course, he “should have taken more safety measures,” police investigator Son Jae-seo told the Associated Press.

Police formally booked Han on Monday for accidental homicides arising out of his duties and asked prosecutors to indict him, according to the wire service. It said that if convicted, Han could face a maximum of five years in prison.

Paek Jin-hak of the Seoul-based Pan Ocean Shipping Co., which owns the ship, said: “As far as our position is concerned, they don’t have definite evidence that our ship was involved. It is highly unusual for police to make criminal charges for a sea accident.”