Captain of Stranded Ship Pleads Guilty to Being Drunk
The captain of a stranded ship, Gennardy Lupey, has pleaded guilty to being drunk in charge, on board the Southern Star in Chatham Docks, Kent on May 7.
The captain despite being stranded in port for the past month and a half, the crew has not been paid for several months and have been relying on seafaring charity. Now the captain has appeared in court charged with being drunk in charge of a ship after sailors let off a flare which drew the attention of the police.
Prosecutor James Nichols told the court, police patrols were sent to the docks at about 10 p.m. Saturday, May 7, after a flare was set off from the ship.
The court heard he had consumed so much alcohol that the proportion of it in his breath was 91 microgrammes in 100 millilitres of breath.
Lupey, who has never been in trouble with the law either in Britain or in other countries, told the court he had been sleeping in his cabin when the flare was set off as a result of high jinx by some of his crew members who had organised a barbecue to celebrate Victory Day.
The crew of the rusting Southern Star has been stuck in Chatham Docks, after being towed to port with engine trouble, for more than a month after the vessel was detained because of an unpaid fuel invoice. It has since been impounded by the Admiralty Court.
Source: Kent Online
