RUSSIAN MASTER PROSECUTED FOR GROUNDING ON NORTH UIST AND FAILING A BREATH TEST

On 22 March 2012 the master of the  Dutch cargo ship ‘Flinterspirit’ was arrested and charged with breach of the Railways and Transport Security Act 2003.  The master had grounded his vessel on Flodday Mor on the 19 March 2012 and failed a routine breath test two days later.

The ‘Flinterspirit’ was on a voyage from Pori, Finland to Belfast when the vessel grounded on Flodday Mor, North Uist at 10:50pm GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) on the 19 March 2012. The vessel’s time was one hour ahead of GMT and the second mate was due to take over the watch from the master. The second mate felt a judder and rushed up to the bridge; there was no one there. The second mate called the chief mate to the bridge and together they sounded the general alarm. When the master still did not appear the second mate went down to his cabin where he found him in bed.

The chief and second mate contacted the coastguard and carried out an inspection of the ship’s ballast tanks. They discovered that the fore peak tank and the bow thrust compartment were both flooded.

The ship was on a rising tide and the ship’s officer’s de-ballasted number three and number one ballast tanks, at approximately 3:00am on the 20 March the ship floated free. The vessel was brought to Stornoway so divers could carry out an underwater inspection, however bad weather prevented it from being berthed until the 22 March.

At court in Stornoway on 28 March 2012 the master Konstantin Gobulev pleaded guilty to being over the limit for alcohol on 22 March 2012. He also pleaded guilty to a breach of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 section 58 (2)(b)(i) by failing to properly navigate his ship.

The Master was fined a total of £3,500

On summing up the Sheriff said:

“The consequences could have been far more serious I have accepted your early plea but, serious matters of public safety have been raised.”

David Carlisle, Principal Surveyor, Belfast Marine Office, Maritime and Coastguard Agency, said:

“This was another serious breach of the Collision Regulations. We do not know why the master left the bridge but to do so while the ship was transiting the Minches was reckless in the extreme. It was not possible to determine, at this stage, whether or not alcohol was a contributory factor at the time of the grounding, but it cannot be ignored that the master was four times over the limit some two days later when the ship berthed. This case demonstrates a flagrant disregard for the principles of good seamanship.”