A merchant sailor from Co Cork who crashed his ship into the back of another vessel, killing its captain, was found guilty of manslaughter in an English court.
A jury at Lewes Crown Court convicted Brian Norcutt D'Esterre-Roberts from Co Cork of the unlawful killing of Wolfram Gross following the collision off Hastings, East Sussex, in October 2001.
Mr Gross (58), the captain of the 1,000-tonne Ash, which sank minutes after the crash, was winched from the sea by a rescue helicopter but later died.
Six other crew members from the Ash, who did not have time to launch a lifeboat, managed to pull on life-jackets and were picked up by D'Esterre-Roberts's ship, the Dutch Aquamarine.
D'Esterre-Roberts failed to notice that his ship was following a collision course with the Ashfor more than an hour before the crash.
D'Esterre-Roberts denied manslaughter but admitted breaching or neglecting his duty to prevent his ship colliding with another vessel, causing the loss of the ship or the injury or death of another crew member.
The jury returned a majority verdict.
PA