Second officer 'told to call captain' after crash

Lewis Carr, the second officer, was told to call the captain after the collision by a subordinate member of staff, the court heard

A subordinate member of staff onboard a Condor Ferries vessel involved in a collision with a fishing boat, which killed all three crew onboard, said he told the second officer to call the captain "straight away" after the crash.

Mr Carr and Artur Sevash-Zade have both pleaded not guilty to three counts of gross negligence manslaughter for the deaths of Michael Michieli and his L'Ecume II crew members Larry Simyunn and Jervis Baligat in December 2022.

Bosun Kostyantyn Zhyglov told Jersey Royal Court that he had been in his cabin when he heard "five short blast[s]" of the horn.

He then headed to the bridge within three to four minutes and noted second officer Mr Carr "standing, not moving" at the radar.

Mr Zhyglov said he asked Mr Carr, "did you call the captain?"

After Mr Carr responded "no", Mr Zhyglov said he told Mr Carr that he had to "call the captain straight away".

The captain then arrived at the bridge and made the "man overboard" announcement.

When asked by the judge why no-one had sounded the man overboard announcement before the captain arrived, he said only the captain or an officer could do so and that the officer in charge, regarding Mr Carr, "should do it".

Mr Zhyglov added that he had been involved in Mr Sevash-Zade's familiarisation of the Commodore Goodwill, that his work was "good" and that he had "no problem ever, ever" and "no complaints".

'High intensity moment'

The Captain of the Goodwill said he sent Mr Carr away from the bridge because he did not believe he was "in a fit state" to assist with the emergency procedures following the collision.

Captain Radoslaw Zelazny told the court he had been in his cabin on a rest break when he heard "five or more short blasts on the ship's whistle" followed by a "brushing noise".

He was then called "minutes" later by Mr Carr to "come to the bridge" and said he was not told there had been a collision, but that he "realised that something was happening".

Mr Zelazny said the incident was "a blur, high intensity moment".

He said: "The priority was safety of the vessel, safety of the crew and providing assistance that would be required as a result of the accident.

"I sent Lewis away to my cabin because I didn't think he was in a fit state to assist in what was happening on the bridge, I thought that it would better for him if he was away."

Mr Zelazny added that he had hoped "to recover people from the water".

'No concerns'

The second officer Philip Ablett told the court that he had "no concerns" handing over to Mr Carr before the collision took place.

The court heard Mr Carr had been busying himself with logging pre-arrival paperwork ahead of schedule, including noting a time of passing an end of sea passage at Corbiere at 05:44 GMT. The next note was then the collision with L'Ecume II at 05:35.

Mr Ablett said there was "no harm" in filling in the paperwork ahead of time and that "some people" did do that, but not him.

He said: "Personally myself, no, I wait to the end of sea passage.

"It's not the best practice but there's no harm in doing it."

Captain Zelazny said "it shouldn't be" part of practice and that "if I was aware of that I would try to stop it".

Mr Ablett added that since the collision, members of staff onboard the ship were now called by phone as opposed to a knock on their cabin doors to wake them up for a shift.

A shadowing second officer onboard the Goodwill said he was woken by "a loud bang… followed by a screeching sound" that was "not normal".

William Hibbs was shadowing Philip Ablett as a second officer before handing over to Mr Carr.

In a written statement to the court dated March 2023, he said he was woken by the collision and heard the man overboard announcement which required all members of staff to assist.

During the search for L'Ecume II, Mr Hibbs said a "faint flashing light" was spotted in the water and that he "could smell and saw diesel on the water".

Regarding the lights of smaller vessels, Mr Hibbs said fishing boats out at sea were "heavily lit up" and stood out at night, that they could be "erratic, problematic" and "frequently change course".

Mr Hibbs said he regarded the Standing Orders - the guidelines for the safety and navigation of a ship - as "the bible" and even if vessels were displaying their fishing lights incorrectly he was "the give way vessel" and would reroute to give way.

Damage to the front of the Commodore Goodwill was sustained

The chief engineer Robert Murdoch said he had heard the crash as he went to the engine room.

He went straight up to the bridge instead, and asked Mr Carr "what the [expletive] was that?", to which he believed Mr Carr said "I think we hit a fishing boat".

Mr Murdoch said he went to check the hull for damage and that there were "no issues" with the engines.

Jannis Nomm, the third engineer onboard, said "everything was working properly like it should" in the engine room and that "I didn't notice anything" regarding the collision.

He was part of the rescue crew and said members saw "pieces of the boat" when out searching for L'Ecume II.

The trial continues.