Captain Paul Eggart of Hamburg, man of a German tanker, the ” St. Michaelis,” will face interrogation by officers of the Rudolf Cetke Shipping Company here, when he returns to Hamburg this month, it was reported today. Eggart is charged with failure to go to the rescue of the Israel freighter “Hashlosha” which sank two weeks ago in the Mediterranean Sea, near Sardinia.
Eggart’s ship, it is alleged, was only six nautical miles away from the vessel when the ill-fated “Hashlosha” sent cut its SCS, but did not attempt any rescue operations. A shipping company spokesman said the 47-year-old captain was a highly experienced seaman and his fault “must have been one of human error. “
Eggart has been suspended and is en route to Hamburg by air. The German captain had reportedly admitted he had seen flares but said he thought they were part of some sort of naval exercises. He said he had also heard radio distress signals, but that they were garbled and indecipherable.
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