Indian captain seeks million-dollar damage for Erika oil spill

PARIS: The Indian captain of the Erika, the tanker at the centre of a major oil spill off France in 1999, on Wednesday filed for a million dollars in compensation for income he has lost since the shipwreck.

Karun Mathur is one of more than 15 parties facing charges in a major trial that opened in February in Paris to pin down responsibility for the pollution to France's Atlantic coastline.

Represented in court by his lawyers, Mathur asked for more than $980,000 in damages from the ship's owners and operators -- also charged in the case -- on grounds he has been unable to find a suitable job since.

Rejecting charges of endangering lives and of sparking pollution through negligence, the ship's captain says he is a victim in the case.

Unemployed for two years after the disaster, Mathur now works in a "humble port job and will never find another ship," said one of his lawyers.

He is asking for two years of his former salary -- 94,128 euros -- plus the difference between his former and current wage for the next 25 years -- 588,300 euros -- and 50,000 euros in moral damages: a total of 732,428 euros.

His request targets the Italian maritime certification company RINA, a member of its board Gianpiero Ponasso, the Italian owner of the Erika, Giuseppe Savarese, and his manager Antonio Pollara.

A 25-year-old rusting tanker, Erika was carrying 30000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil when it broke in two and sank off Frances Brittany cost on December 12, 1999, polluting huge stretches of coastline and killing thousands of seabirds.