He said the factory was operating illegally after the authorities suspended its license for major safety violations.
An initial review showed no major safety violations at the work site, according to the state's Labor Department.
After the inspections, Maizuru transport ministry officials ordered the detention of the Namsan 3, a 298-ton freighter, until its North Korean crew of 16 could fix three major safety violations: lack of charts of surrounding seas, a hole in its bulkhead, and a doorsill to the cabin that was too low to prevent water from flooding in.
The News -- The Bush administration has reduced major fines for safety violations in mines, according to an analysis by The New York Times.
[C4.] Bush Administration Lowered Fines for Mining Concerns In its drive to foster a more cooperative relationship with mining companies, the Bush administration has decreased major fines for safety violations since 2001, and in nearly half the cases, it has not collected the fines, according to a data analysis.
They did not find any serious safety violations or major problems that would endanger the safety of a flight, Jaan Albrecht, the Star Alliance chief executive, said in a telephone interview.
According to a nine-month investigation by "Frontline," the Canadian Broadcasting Company and The New York Times (a three-part series began yesterday in The Times), McWane has accumulated more safety violations than their six major competitors combined over the last seven years, and government regulations have proved inadequate to counter those violations.
Under the proposed legislation, maximum fines for safety violations resulting in deaths, injuries or major environmental damages would increase to $2.5 million, from $1 million.
Since 1995, the corporation has recorded more than 4,600 injuries while accumulating more than 400 safety violations, four times the total among its major competitors combined.
McWane has been cited for more than 400 safety violations since 1995, four times more than its six major competitors combined.
The series reported that McWane, a company in Birmingham, Ala., that employs some 5,000 workers in a dozen American plants, had been cited for more than 400 safety violations since 1995, far more than all of its major competitors combined.
