Drunken sailor sentenced after wrecking ship in Sweden

A Ukrainian captain who ran his ship aground in southwest Sweden has been sentenced to one month in prison for aggravated drunkenness at sea. According to news agency TT, however, Andrey Sharafonenko, 44, who was found guilty by a district court in Malmo on Monday, will be let off with the 17 days he has already served. The captain was arrested on 13th August after he ran his 85-metre Dutch ship aground in the Oresund strait that separates Sweden and Denmark. 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.
Prosecutors defended pursuing the charge of aggravated drunkenness by saying that the tight passage and heavy traffic at Oresund demanded the captains full attention. They added that the way he was controlling the ship “posed a significant risk to safety at sea”. The Dutch ship, known as the Flinterforest, was carrying a 700-tonne cargo of paper rolls from Finland to Scotland when the accident occurred. The 2004 vessel is owned by the Flinterforest shipping company and is managed by Forestwave Navigation and Flinter Management. Source : icenews.is

There wasn’t “aggravated drunkenness” – Ukranian master arrested by Swedish police
Friday, August 13, 2010
Swedish police on Friday charged the captain of a Dutch vessel that ran aground near the Helsingborg port with aggravated drunkenness and carelessness in sea traffic, a spokesman said. The 44-year-old captain, a Ukrainian citizen, was more than four times over the legal alcohol limit when the ship ran aground earlier Friday, Calle Persson of the Skaane police told AFP. Persson said the captain had an alcohol level, as measured by a breath test, of 0.4 milligrams per litre, with the legal limit for navigating at 0.1 milligrams per litre. He added the captain was arrested for "aggravated drunkenness at sea" even though aggravated drunkenness usually starts at 0.5 milligrams of alcohol per litre, because of the circumstances.
"It is a decision that was taken considering he was the commanding officer of a big ship that he was navigating in the shallow Oeresund strait," he said.
The 85-meter (278 feet) Flinterforest, a Dutch vessel, ran aground early Friday a few kilometers (miles) north of the southwestern port of Helsingborg, on her way from Finland to Scotland with a cargo of paper rolls.
The Swedish coast guard, which was alerted at 5:30 am (0330 GMT), said none of the five other crew members were hurt and that no fuel had been spilled. Built in 2004, the Flinterforest cargo vessel belongs to a Dutch shipping company by the same name and is managed by two other companies: Flinter Management and Forestwave Navigation. The ship's commercial manager, Flinter, declined to comment.
"We cannot say anything about this as long as the investigation is ongoing," spokeswoman Elise Croonen told AFP. "The company is fully cooperating" with Swedish authorities probing the cause of the incident, she added. In a statement, Flinter said there was no damage to the cargo ship and no danger of pollution.
"In cooperation with the local authorities and marine experts, Flinter is doing everything possible to refloat the ship in the safest possible way." Tomas Nilsson of the coast guard said authorities were still trying to determine how to free the ship, which is beached on gravel. "We don't think we'll be able to free it before the weekend. To get it out, we'll have to relieve it from its cargo, and another ship will have to come free it," Nilsson told AFP. Police spokesman Persson said a prosecutor had three days to decide if the captain was to be remanded in custody or not.

First report:
Dutch coaster aground in Belt, suspect drunken master
Friday, August 13
Dutch coaster, general cargo Flinterforest ran aground in Belt on Sweden coast north off Helsinborg on August 13. Swedish Coast guard suspects drunken Master, investigation under way. First reports claim vessel requires offloading for refloat. Flinterforest IMO 9313773, dwt 4500, built 2004, flag Holland, owner Flinter Shipping B.V.
Remark: Why so many accidents with coasters in Eurpoe waters? Maybe the main reason is not “aggravated drunkenness”, but dangerously minimized crews? 6 crew during several months work under constant stress, with thumbs up from international maritime organizations. More to that, those organizations are in constant sweat to produce more and more regulations, restrictions, control and checks. They fight alchohol and smoking by one hand, deepening roots for drinking and smoking due to hard working conditions by the other.
Mikhail Voytenko

Photos from Swedish online edition hd.se