News

The coroner at an inquest into the death of two Ukrainian sailors who died suddenly on a ship sailing through the Dover Strait has recorded a verdict of accidental death.

The men's bodies were recovered from the Latvian-registered Sava Lake cargo vessel when it docked in Dover on January 18 2008.

The coroner Rachel Redman was told at the inquest in Ashford, Kent, that the two men, Oleg Babiienko, 32, and Sergiy Lozynski, 26, had been starved of oxygen after entering the hold and died within 3 minutes.

A post mortem examination confirmed the men had died from asphyxiation.

Following the tragedy, new safety guidelines on the carrying of hazardous cargo have been issued by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch.