A New Zealand court has sentenced a British ship captain to pay a $3,000 fine after authorities found him to be more than five-times the legal alcohol limit when his ship arrived at Northport, NZ on Friday. Anthony Michael Baker, the captain of the multi-purpose cargo ship Shansi, was arrested after harbor pilots boarded the vessel upon its arrival in Whangarei Harbour on … [Read more...]
Drunken Captain Gets Vessel Stuck in Germany
A inland freighter found itself pinned in a peculiar way on Germany's Main river after the drunken ship captain allegedly ran the vessel into a bridge and then the river bank. Local media reports that the 105-meter vessel Elsava became pinned crossways between a bridge and the edge of the river in Lohr am Main, Germany early on Thursday. Photos and … [Read more...]
Russian Captain Fined in U.S. for BAC Four Times the Legal Limit
The Russian ship captain of a Maltese-flagged freighter has been sentenced in Oregon to pay a $1,000 fine for operating his ship with a BAC that was over four times the legal limit. On Tuesday, Valeriy Sharykin, 62, from Russia, plead guilty to operating a commercial vessel under the influence of alcohol, a class A misdemeanor, while in the Port of Portland. According to … [Read more...]
Drunk Captain Saved By The Bell, A Helicopter, Other Ships, And a Little Bit of Luck
The Captain of the Maltese-flagged M/V Wilson Avonmouth is lucky to have avoided going aground near Helsingor, Denmark after passing out at the helm, and only to be awoken by frantic attempts from authorities and other vessels in area. VesselFinder.com has the story: The vessel was southbound and had during the last hour kept the same course. According calculations of … [Read more...]
Sleeping Drunk Master Blamed in 2011 ‘Karin Schepers’ Grounding
A drunken master that had fallen asleep in the bridge is to blame for the August 2011 grounding of the Karin Schepers along the UK's Cornish coast, according to an investigation by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch. The Karin Schepers, an Antigua-flagged 800 teu box ship with 13 crew on board, ran aground at approximately 0536 on August 3, 2011 while in transit from … [Read more...]
Captain Arrested after Cargo Ship Collides with Ferry [UPDATED]
![Captain Arrested after Cargo Ship Collides with Ferry [UPDATED]](https://gcaptain.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/PE7479_21_664713t1-207x125.jpg)
UPDATE: The captain of M/V Union Moon, plead guilty to excess alcohol by the master of a ship Friday morning. The captain, Miroslaw Pozniak, 55, from Poland, will remain in custody until at least Monday when it will be dicided if bail will be set. Original: The captain of a cargo ship has been arrested in Northern Ireland after authorities found him to be drunk when his … [Read more...]
Drunk Freighter Captain Arrested on Columbia River [UPDATE]
![Drunk Freighter Captain Arrested on Columbia River [UPDATE]](https://gcaptain.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/showphoto-207x125.jpg)
M/V Laconia. Photo (c) Clark Crawford via MarineTraffic.com Update: The captain of the Maltese-flagged M/V Laconia that was arrested last week after failing a breathalyzer test was not just slightly drunk, he was extremely wasted, according to a report posted to OregonLive.com. Georgios Choulis, the 53-year-old master of the M/V Laconia, pleaded guilty Friday to negligent … [Read more...]