News / Skipper fined for being drunk while in charge of boat that sank off Sumburgh
A SKIPPER from Virkie who was nearly five times the alcohol limit while he was in charge of a fishing vessel which later sank on its way back to the Shetland mainland has been fined £1,000.
James Black, of Toab, was only revealed to be have been drinking after a coastguard winchman smelled alcohol on his breath while lifting him to safety from his vessel, the Wick-registered Hope III.
At Lerwick Sheriff Court on Wednesday, defence agent Tommy Allan said there was “nothing to suggest” the 45 year old’s drinking had any part to play in the boat’s sinking.
Black pled guilty to being the professional master of a ship on 8 July 2016 on the sea between the Shetland mainland and Fair Isle while having 225 milligrams of alcohol in 100ml of blood. The legal limit is 50 milligrams.
Procurator fiscal said Duncan Mackenzie said Black was in sole charge of the 32ft vessel when he issued a distress call at around 2pm.
The coastguard helicopter later arrived on the scene and while they saw that a liferaft had been deployed, Black was still standing on deck.
He was winched to safety, but the coastguard crewmember lifting him from the vessel soon detected a “very strong” smell of alcohol on the fisherman’s breath.
Police attended the scene once the helicopter had landed. Black failed a screening test, was arrested and taken to the Lerwick station before failing further tests.
Mackenzie said it was not clear what caused the boat to run into trouble, adding that Black was a “fortunate man”.
“He could clearly have died,” the fiscal said.
Defence agent Tommy Allan said there was no suggestion that his client’s drinking caused any problems with the running of the vessel.
He said the sight of water flooding into the boat’s engine room is something which “won’t leave [Black] in any great hurry”.
The solicitor said the fisherman was steaming back from working in Fair Isle when the boat started becoming “sluggish”, with alarms soon sounding. Unable to cope with it all himself, Black called for help.
Allan said his client had owned the boat since 2011, but he had been involved in fishing for decades.
The solicitor said some drinks had been left on the boat by others and with no other liquids such as coffee on board to consume, Black took to the bottle on his trip back home.
“He was very surprised by the level of the [alcohol] count,” Allan said, adding that Black also had very little sleep the night before.
Black received a new vessel following the sinking and has gone back to work, but the incident came as a “great shock” to him.
Sheriff Philip Mann said the offence was “serious” due to the level of alcohol consumed. “The procurator fiscal is right to suggest you were lucky to escape with your life,” he said.
The sheriff added that while Black had a “high count” of alcohol, he was still “functioning”.
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