A tanker captain was fined after pleading guilty to being drunk in charge of the 13,776 dwt Quercianella carrying 11,000 tonnes of petroleum.
Sandro Carnemolla, 53 and from Sicily, was given a suspended four-month sentence and fined GBP1,000 (USD1,550) at Liverpool Crown Court. The United Kingdom court heard that Carnemolla had an exemplary record but had been drinking after ‘a stressful day’.
A pilot onboard the tanker while it was leaving Merseyside’s Eastham docks thought that the captain was drunk and called the police, who breathalysed and arrested Carnemolla.
Anthony Berry QC, defending, said that although there were two first officers on the bridge who could have manoeuvred the vessel, Carnemolla was guilty because he was officially in charge.
He added that the captain had his last drink more than two hours before the incident happened at the Queen Elizabeth II docks in Wirral.
This post was sourced from IHS Maritime 360: View the original article here.
