Diver Training Tank Inaugurated in Baja

Hungary's first ever diver training tank has been inaugurated in Baja, southern Hungary on the occasion of the third anniversary of a deadly boat collision, on the River Danube in Budapest, which took the lives of many South Korean tourists in 2019.

On May 29, 2019, the Viking Sigyn cruise ship collided with the Hableány (‘Mermaid’) sightseeing boat that had 33 South Korean tourists on board and a crew of two Hungarians. Seven tourists were rescued from the water after the collision and the rest died. One of the bodies has not been recovered.

Local MP Róbert Zsigó stated at the inauguration that the disaster bound two nations together. He said the youngest victim of the collision was 6 years old and the oldest 71.

South Korea’s ambassador to Hungary, Park Chul-min, said May 29, 2019 had been “a moment of shock” which to this day could not be forgotten. At the same time, he expressed his thanks and gratitude to the divers who had done everything they could to save the victims at the scene of the disaster.

The diver training tank inaugurated in Baja, a town at the southern Hungarian section of the River Danube, was built at the initiative of the Havaria Disaster Management Public Benefit Association.