Korean Ship Blamed in Sinking of U.S. 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 long have suspected the 27,000-ton Pan Grace in the accident. The announcement Tuesday marked the first formal assigning of blame.

A Coast Guard report on the crash is scheduled to be released in the next few weeks. Sources have indicated that 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, Benjamin, 9, and Anna, 7. Judith Ann Sleavin, 41, the sole survivor, washed ashore after clinging to a raft for 42 hours. The yacht was en route from Tonga to New Zealand when it was hit.

Sources close to the inquiry 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 during a storm.

Honolulu-based Lt. Cmdr. Bob Acker, the lead Coast Guard investigator, declined comment Tuesday.

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 Inchon, South Korea, in early December.

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

However, sources said, some crew members did concede that because of the rough seas, their 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. Sources said 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 AP.

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 wire service.

Police booked Han on Monday for accidental homicides arising from his duties and asked prosecutors to indict him, according to AP.

Paek Jin-hak of 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.”