Four more persons are suspected of involvement in the incident in Raska Bay in the Croatian western Istria region, in which some 5 tonnes of fuel had leaked from the cargo ship Fidelity into the sea, causing major damage to the bay area.

The City of Labin police had filed charges last week against three members of the Fidelity crew – the ship’s captain, chief engineer and his deputy, all Syrian nationals, for failing to oversee and implement the proper protection and safety measures during the refuelling of the ship in the Brsica port from 10.45 pm on June 21 to 8 pm on June 22.

New suspects in the case are a 25-year-old Syrian national and three Croatian nationals, aged 44, 29, and 59.

The 25-year-old Syrian national, a member of Fidelity’s crew, is suspected of failing to implement the proper security measures during the refuelling of the ship as Fidelity’s guard. The Croatian nationals, one in charge of the fuel transfer pump, and two tank car drivers, are suspected of beginning and finishing the refuelling process without establishing communication with members of the ship’s crew in charge of the process and getting permission for loading fuel onto the ship.

As a result, some 5 thousand litres of fuel leaked from the overloaded reservoirs, damaging large sea and coastal areas in the town of Trget and the east and west sides of the Raska Bay in the Barban and Marcana municipalities.

The police investigation is ongoing, and the state attorney’s office in charge of the case received the amendments to criminal charges.

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