The captain of a South Korean freighter was sentenced to jail in Tacoma, Wash., last week for commanding his 590-foot vessel through U.S. waters in the Juan de Fuca Strait while drunk.
Capt. Seong Ug Sin was arrested this spring, when a U.S. Coast Guard inspection crew found him drunk at the helm of the 20,763-tonne freighter, the U.S. State Attorney’s Office said in a release.
Coast guard inspectors tried to board the STX Daisy from a small inflatable boat during high swells in the early morning hours of April 14. Sin was reportedly not co-operative.
Upon boarding, the inspectors found Sin to be without proper records or a usable chart of Puget Sound, his intended destination. They also smelled alcohol on his breath.
A test revealed his blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit allowable while in command of a vessel, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Washington.
A large quantity of Korean whisky was found on board. Sin had been consuming it with another officer, the release said.
U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Richard Creatura sentenced Sin to 14 days in jail and six months of supervised release, during which time he is not allowed to sail in U.S. waters.
“The consequences of an accident that may have occurred due to the defendant’s intoxication could have been catastrophic.
The defendant’s intended journey through the [strait] and down the Puget Sound to Olympia covered over [330 kilometres] through areas characterized by narrow channels and strong currents,” the Assistant U.S. Attorneys wrote in a memo requesting a significant sentence.
“More importantly, the defendant’s intended track crossed no less than six Washington State Ferry routes, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and many areas of high commercial shipping and recreational boating activity. The defendant’s ship, carrying large quantities of fuel oil, posed further risk to the marine environment.”
source: http://is.gd/gABe0
Capt. Seong Ug Sin was arrested this spring, when a U.S. Coast Guard inspection crew found him drunk at the helm of the 20,763-tonne freighter, the U.S. State Attorney’s Office said in a release.
Coast guard inspectors tried to board the STX Daisy from a small inflatable boat during high swells in the early morning hours of April 14. Sin was reportedly not co-operative.
Upon boarding, the inspectors found Sin to be without proper records or a usable chart of Puget Sound, his intended destination. They also smelled alcohol on his breath.
A test revealed his blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit allowable while in command of a vessel, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Washington.
A large quantity of Korean whisky was found on board. Sin had been consuming it with another officer, the release said.
U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Richard Creatura sentenced Sin to 14 days in jail and six months of supervised release, during which time he is not allowed to sail in U.S. waters.
“The consequences of an accident that may have occurred due to the defendant’s intoxication could have been catastrophic.
The defendant’s intended journey through the [strait] and down the Puget Sound to Olympia covered over [330 kilometres] through areas characterized by narrow channels and strong currents,” the Assistant U.S. Attorneys wrote in a memo requesting a significant sentence.
“More importantly, the defendant’s intended track crossed no less than six Washington State Ferry routes, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and many areas of high commercial shipping and recreational boating activity. The defendant’s ship, carrying large quantities of fuel oil, posed further risk to the marine environment.”
source: http://is.gd/gABe0
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