Southampton Magistrates Court News

British police were granted more time to question seven men arrested after hostile stowaways aboard an oil tanker in the English Channel prompted special forces to storm the vessel on Sunday.“Officers have been granted more time by Southampton Magistrates Court to question seven men as we continue to lead the investigation into the maritime security incident on board the Nave Andromeda off the coast of the Isle of Wight on Sunday 25 October,” police said in a statement.The seven men, who are all Nigerian nationals, were arrested on suspicion of seizing or exercising control of a ship by use of threats or force, and will remain in custody until the evening of Wednesday, October 28.Reporting by William James, Editing by Paul Sandle

Following the U.K. Maritime & Coastguard Agency’s more than two-year-long investigation into the circumstances surrounding the fatal loss of the yacht Cheeki Rafiki in May 2014, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has decided to bring charges against Douglas Innes and Stormforce Coaching Limited. Four sailors were killed after the 40-foot yacht lost its keel more than 700 miles from Nova Scotia while en route from the U.K. from Antigua. “We have authorized the charging of Douglas Innes with four counts of gross negligence manslaughter and Douglas Innes and Stormforce Coaching Limited with one charge contrary to section 100 Merchant Shipping Act 1995,” said Ian Harris, from the CPS Wessex.

The owner of a harbor tanker has been fined £3,000 with more than £7,000 costs after pleading guilty to a charge of operating a vessel for being dangerously unsafe. Joseph O’Connor was fined at the hearing in Southampton Magistrates Court February 12 following his guilty plea to the charge which was brought until the Merchant Shipping Act 1995. In March 2009 the Wadestone, then known as the Humber Star, sank at its berth on Weston Wharf in the River Solent. As a result, the vessel was detained by the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) as being dangerously unsafe on March 26, 2009. At the time it was detained it was noted that Wadestone (Humber Star) had been poorly maintained and repaired and was not fit to go to sea.

The master of a wind farm support boat has been made to pay £3,000 in fines and costs after breaching maritime collision regulations, informs the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA). Geoffrey Whinfrey was in charge of the Island Panther when it collided with a wind turbine in the Sheringham Shoal wind farm on 21 November 2012. Whinfrey had been requested by the wind farm operator - Scira Offshore Energy Ltd - that the Island Panther take off duty employees ashore due to the worsening weather conditions. It was dark and the wind was gusting up to 45mph, with driving rain and rough seas. Passage plans had not been completed for any part of the journey. Whinfrey attempted to navigate through the wind farm using the safety lights on the wind turbine towers, which is against company policy.

The master of a wind farm support vessel has today been made to pay £3,000 in fines and costs after pleading guilty to breaches of maritime collision regulations. Geoffrey Whinfrey was in charge of the Island Panther when it collided with a wind turbine in the Sheringham Shoal wind farm on November 21, 2012. Whinfrey had been requested by the wind farm operator - Scira Offshore Energy Ltd - that the Island Panther take off duty employees ashore due to the worsening weather conditions. It was dark and the wind was gusting up to 45mph, with driving rain and rough seas. Passage plans had not been completed for any part of the journey. Whinfrey attempted to navigate through the wind farm using the safety lights on the wind turbine towers, which is against company policy.

In a landmark case, two divers today have been made to pay a total of £63,500 in fines and costs for not declaring valuable items from shipwrecks off the U.K. coast. David Knight and Edward Huzzey, both from Sandgate, had previously pleaded guilty to 19 offences between them, contrary to section 236 and section 237 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995. Knight was fined £7,000 and Huzzey £6,500. They were each ordered to pay £25,000 in costs. Items were taken from shipwrecks off the Kent coast, with the first known objects removed in 2001.

The operator of a U.K.-registered containership has been ordered to pay £17,311.01 for breaching oil pollution legislation. The Ever Sigma – operated by Evergreen Marine – was en route from Greece to the Netherlands when 700 liters of heavy fuel oil went overboard. The incident occurred when the chief engineer decided to carry out an internal transfer of heavy fuel oil using two pumps. The heavy fuel oil was not pre-heated prior to the transfer – and the vessel’s master was not informed. A precautionary alarm sounded when the tank reached 336 metric tons (69% full). However, the use of two pumps continued for another hour when the transfer was stopped when the fuel level reached 417 metric tons (85% full).

The Port State Control Officer observed personnel had accessed ballast water tanks without following proper preceedures. On the 19th June 2012, a Port State Control Inspector from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) boarded the Panama registered vessel Terry Siete at Portland. During his inspection the Inspector noted that access was being made into the vessel’s ballast tanks without proper procedures being in place. The Master was issued with a Prohibition Notice requiring entries be made in the correct manner in accordance with the Code of Safe Working Practices. On the 20th August 2012, the Inspector returned to the vessel. On checking various documents…

Late on Jan. 7, ABP notified the Maritime & Coastguard Agency via Solent Coastguard after concerns were raised that a vessel Balu C was not being managed correctly on its passage into a berth at the port. The Master of the Balu C, Valery Semenov, was breathalysed by the Police upon arrival into Southampton Port, and he was found to have 94 microgrammes (mg) in 100 millilitres of breath. In the case of breath, 35 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres is the legal limit. Therefore Semenov, a 52 year old Russian national was nearly three times that legal limit. The Balu C is a 2008 built general cargo ship registered in Antigua and Barbuda. Her deadweight tonnage (carrying capacity) is 8,045 tonnes. She was on passage from Amsterdam to Southampton with a cargo of grain with a crew of 12.