Drunk master gets a month
A Ukrainian captain whose cargoship ran aground off Sweden has been sentenced to a month in prison for aggravated drunkenness at sea.
However, the TT news agency reported that Andrey Sharafonenko, 44, was freed after spending 17 days in custody awaiting trial in Malmo.
The master was arrested on 13 August after the 4,500-dwt Flinterforest (built 2004) went aground in the Orseund strait.
According to prosecutors, Sharafonenko was found to have at least twice the legal navigating limit of 0.1 milligrams of alcohol per litre of blood in his system, although police recorded him to be four times over the limit at the time of his arrest.
Flinterforest was carrying a 700-tonne cargo of paper rolls from Finland to Scotland.
The ship was refloated and continued its voyage without the captain.
A spokesperson for the Swedish police told AFP he had been charged with aggravated drunkenness at sea despite his tests showing he was below the level usually required for such a charge.
‘I can assure you that the company has very strict regulations in relation to drug and alcohol use which are rigorously enforced,” a spokesperson for Dutch owner Flinter told TradeWinds
Source:Tradewinds