A ship’s captain whose cargo ship ploughed into a Stena ferry was almost four times the legal drink-drive limit, a court has heard.
Downpatrick Crown Court also heard yesterday that when the Union Moon crashed into the Stena Feriona on March 7th this year, Miroslaw Pozniak caused more than $1.5 million in damage.
Pozniak (56) steered straight into the 21,856-tonne Stena ferry, gouging a large hole in the vehicle deck. He had no look-out despite the darkness.
In a preliminary breath test four hours after the impact, Pozniak’s reading was 135mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, the limit being 35mg.
Pozniak, a married father of two from Listopada, northwest Poland, pleaded guilty to failing to keep a proper lookout, failing to navigate, causing serious damage to his own ship as well as another vessel. He said it was because of news of his wife’s ill-health.
In a prosecution brought by the Maritime and Coast Guard Agency, Pozniak faced a maximum of two years in jail. Jailing him for a year, Judge David Smyth QC told him that had he not pleaded guilty, he would have faced an 18-month jail sentence.