Sailor drinks rum, crashes cargo ship
In a classic case of “what should we do with the drunken sailor?” an investigation has found the Russian sailor on watch of the 7000-tonne cargo ship that ran aground in Scotland in February had drank half a litre of rum during his shift!
The Lysblink Seaways vessel was reportedly travelling from Belfast to Skogn in Norway. According the Marine Accident Investigation Report, the sailor had downed the heroic amount of liquor in his cabin after a private phone call made him anxious.
When the 36-year-old started his midnight shift as the officer on watch he was reportedly eight times over the legal limit and obviously in no state to work.
Before he knew it the ship had ran aground. The ship, which had been carrying paper waste, was stuck onshore for two days with bad weather. Damage to the hull caused 25 tonnes of oil to pollute the water and eventually the ship was written off.
A spokesperson for the cargo ship’s owner said, “We have a very clear and very clearly communicated zero-tolerance alcohol policy which cannot be misunderstood. We have never seen an officer having violated the policy before and we have never before seen such negligence of our safety procedures.”
Image credit: Marine Accident Investigation Branch