A UK officer has been sentenced to 18 months in jail in Denmark for his role in a fatal collision in 2021.
The 30-year-old Scotline seafarer was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter after admitting to drinking on the bridge of the 4,800-dwt Scot Carrier (built 2018).
The vessel hit the 500-dwt Danish cargo ship Karin Hoj (built 1997) on 13 December in the Baltic Sea between Bornholm and Ystad, Sweden, killing two of its crew members.
The ship’s second officer was also banned from entering Denmark for 12 years and his licence to operate vessels in Danish waters was revoked, Maritime Direct reported. He will be deported once his jail time is served.
The tearful seafarer admitted at Copenhagen City Court that he was under the influence of alcohol at the time and he was talking on a mobile phone.
He told the court he did not respond to or record radar information about the Karin Hoj’s position, or signals from the ship’s radio system.
The officer sailed on after the collision without providing help or assistance to the two missing crew members from the Danish vessel.
According to his statement, he was alone on bridge duty at the time.
The officer explained he was aware of the collision because he felt a bump and a jerk, but he increased speed instead of stopping.
One body has never been found following the incident.
Extradited in February
Scotline admitted in December that its vessel had left the scene of the collision.
The Briton was arrested by Swedish police and remanded in custody in absentia in Denmark on 17 December.
The seafarer was extradited on 6 February and has remained in custody since then.
UK-based Scotline said after the accident that its vessel had later reversed course to search for the two missing crew members.
“It is understood that the time between the incident and the Scot Carrier altering course to the location of the incident was under 25 minutes,” the company added.
Swedish prosecutors said in December that a Croatian citizen born in 1965 was also held at the time and was under investigation for aggravated drunkenness at sea.
