A Russian sailor drank half a liter of rum and slammed a 7,000-ton cargo ship aground on the rocky shoreline of Scotland, according to investigators. The ship named Lysblink Seaways was supposed to be on its way from Belfast, Northern Ireland, to Skogn in Norway. When the ship was salvaged, it was so badly damaged that it ultimately had to be scrapped.
The 36-year-old Russian consumed the rum in his cabin before taking up his shift as the only officer on watch at midnight, but had “become inattentive due to the effects of alcohol consumption”. DFDS company runs a zero-tolerance policy for employees, but the officer was eight times over the alcohol limit, the MAIB reports. “Records showed that the bonded store was regularly replenished, and empty beer, wine and spirit bottles and cartons found on board after the accident indicated significant levels of alcohol consumption by the crew.”
