The families of two Water Festival rowers who drowned when their racing boat sank after colliding with a cruise ship each asked for $35,000 in compensation during a meeting this week with company representatives, a family member said on Thursday.
Khun Him, the father of 36-year-old Chhoeun Chon, who died along with 18-year-old Sok Chanchesda when a vessel owned by Cruiseco Line struck their boat last Friday, said the two families had met with representatives of the cruise ship company on Wednesday in Phnom Penh.
“In the meeting, we demanded $35,000, but the ship’s representatives did not respond immediately” because they needed to discuss the request with management, he said.
A Cruiseco representative did not respond to a request for comment.
Pes Lim, the chief of the municipal police’s waterways traffic bureau, said the company’s representatives would not agree to a deal before an insurance company completed an evaluation.
The cruise ship, which was carrying Vietnamese tourists, has halted operations while a prosecutor from the Phnom Penh Municipal Court compiles a report, he said.
