Jeremy Smart News

The owner of a fishing vessel has been sentenced to 15 months in prison after pleading guilty to two charges brought by the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) for the unsafe operation of a fishing vessel and failing to ensure that the gas cooker was properly maintained. Timothy Bowman-Davies from Milford Haven was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment at Leeds Crown Court on August 2, after two crew members on board his fishing vessel Eshcol died from carbon monoxide poisoning in 2014.

North Sea operator Technip UK Limited pleaded guilty to a breach of regulations covering health and safety of workers which lead to the death of a rigger, and has been fined £160,000, the U.K. Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) reported. Technip UK Limited admitted a breach of regulation 5 of the Merchant Shipping and Fishing Vessel (Health and Safety at Work) Regulations 1997 at Aberdeen Sheriff Court today in relation to a March 2009 incident which caused the death of David Stephenson, who was working as rigger on the U.K.-flagged dive support vessel Wellservicer operated by Technip UK. The vessel had left the Netherlands for Aberdeen and stopped three miles outside of the harbor for trials and tests which included testing of the forward bell.

A port operator has today (Monday 29 September) pleaded guilty to health and safety breaches, following the deaths of three crew members of a tug which capsized on the River Clyde in 2007. Clydeport Operations Ltd, who were sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh, received fines totalling £650,000. In December 2007 the Flying Phantom was one of three tugs assisting the 70,000-tonne cargo ship Red Jasmine as it made its way along the River Clyde. As they approached the Erskine Bridge, the Flying Phantom was secured to the bow of the Red Jasmine, which was transporting animal feed. Just before 6pm, in thick fog, the Flying Phantom called the ship to say they had grounded and the pilot instructed the tug to let go the line. That was the last communication.

The skipper of a racing yacht has been made to pay over £100,000 in fines and costs after colliding with a 120,000 ton oil tanker in the Solent. Roland Wilson of Perthshire, Scotland was today found guilty on three counts of breaching international maritime law at West Hampshire Magistrates' Court. On August 6, 2011, the yacht Atalanta of Chester was taking part in the first day of racing at Cowes Week. Heading towards Southampton Docks was the tanker Hanne Knutsen. Skipper Roland Wilson, who at the time was a Royal Navy Lieutenant, said he spotted the red tanker when it was five miles away.

At a hearing today at Truro Magistrates Court, the owner of a tanker paid a total of £22,500 in fines and costs after pleading guilty to a breach of U.K. maritime pollution legislation. On February 25, 2012 a satellite operated by European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) detected a ship trailing a slick in the waters between Lands End and the Scilly Isles. A report was made to the MCA. The alert level was given as RED, i.e. high confidence. The ship was identified as the Singapore registered tanker Maersk Kiera. The slick itself was within 12 miles of land.

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.