Domestic Travel Agency Ordered by Court to Pay 3 Billion KRW Compensation to Families of Hungary Cruise Ship Disaster Victims

A domestic travel agency has been ordered to pay approximately 3 billion won in compensation to the bereaved families of 25 Korean tourists who died in a sightseeing boat sinking accident in Budapest, Hungary, in 2019.

Seoul Central District Court, Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

According to the legal community on the 29th, the Civil Division 34 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Kim Chang-mo) ruled on the 14th that Chamjoeun Travel Co., Ltd. must compensate nine bereaved family members of five deceased victims from the Hungarian sightseeing boat sinking accident with amounts ranging from 137 million to 820 million won each, totaling 2.986 billion won. The court set the consolation damages at 200 million won per deceased and calculated the inheritance share by adding lost future income (lost earnings due to the accident).

The court stated, "According to the contract terms, it is recognized that the negligence of the local travel agency, which can be equated with the defendant's negligence, was the cause of this accident."

Furthermore, the court pointed out that the local travel agency, 'Panorama Deck,' only allowed one captain and one crew member on board at the time of the accident, failing to meet the minimum crew requirements under local law of one captain and two crew members. Despite heavy rain and fog requiring heightened safety precautions, passengers were not provided with life jackets. The court said, "The greater the number of crew members, the higher the likelihood of detecting collision risks, and if passengers had worn life jackets, the damage could have been significantly reduced."

However, considering that the deceased could have taken safety measures themselves by requesting and wearing life jackets given the weather conditions on the day of the accident, and taking into account the circumstances of the accident, the court limited the travel agency's liability to 80%.

Previously, 25 Korean tourists boarded the sightseeing boat Hable?ny on the Danube River in Budapest on May 29, 2019, for a night tour. On their return, the boat was struck by a large cruise ship and sank in less than 30 seconds, resulting in their deaths.