'L'Ecume II was at fault for Condor ferry crash'

Lewis Carr said he was not in a fit mental state to be interviewed so soon after the crash

A fishing trawler which sank following a collision with a Condor ferry was at fault, the ferry's former second officer says.

Lewis Carr denies three counts of gross negligence manslaughter over the deaths of L'Ecume II skipper Michael Michieli and crew members Larry Simyunn and Jervis Baligat in December 2022 when their vessel collided with Condor's Commodore Goodwill.

He is being tried alongside ex-Condor crew member Artur Sevash-Zade on the same charges, who also denies the offences.

When asked by his defence team why the collision happened, Mr Carr told Jersey's Royal Court L'Ecume II did not follow collision avoidance regulations.

'Could've been avoided'

He said: "L'Ecume was not displaying fishing lights, there was no effective lookout on L'Ecume in terms of someone who understood colregs [International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea] and the action that was taken in the final minutes by L'Ecume was not colreg-compliant."

The 30-year-old added that, when L'Ecume II altered course "to port across the bow", it went against three rules.

When answering questions from the prosecution, Mr Carr agreed the collision was a result of human error and that when asked if he accepted he made mistakes on the bridge, he said "things could've been done better".

Mr Carr also said: "With hindsight, yes, it could've been avoided" when asked if he agreed the crash might not have happened if he had acted differently.

Mr Carr also said he should not have taken part in an interview with Ports of Jersey and the police the day after the collision because he provided incorrect information.

He told the court that the evening following the collision he laid in bed "wide awake" and "didn't sleep" ahead of the interview "because of the traumatic event that had just occurred".

He said: "I was trying to make sense of what had happened and I couldn't make sense at that time... it was just a whirlwind in my head."

Mr Carr said during the interview he had no data or radar information in front of him and he was "just trying to think what happened, but it doesn't really come across in a clear way... or even the right order".

Interview responses 'inaccurate'

He said: "With my mental state at the time, and trying to recite technical data such as this... especially in that mindset, it was not really possible.

"It was inaccurate what I said in that interview."

The second officer added that there was "a lot of things in my head at that point that I couldn't remember".

On 18 January 2023, Mr Carr had a Teams online interview with the health and safety officer of Condor Ferries and said, although he had said he was in a better headspace, it was only "a little bit".

He said: "I still wasn't in any fit mental state, to be honest - the first few months after the collision I spent at home not interacting with anyone.

"Just by watching my face during that interview I was looking away... I wasn't even paying attention."

Lewis Carr said L'Ecume II were at fault for the crash between itself and the Commodore Goodwill

On Monday, Mr Carr told the court the lights he saw on L'Ecume II were the side lights, deck lights and the mast headlight - but no fishing lights.

The prosecution questioned how in interviews for the investigation Mr Carr said he "wouldn't like to guess" which lights were displayed, but nearly three years on he was now able to recall.

"This was one day after a traumatic event. My mind wasn't clear in any way shape or form - I said I don't recall on a lot of answers," he said.

Mr Carr added he remembered the lights displayed by L'Ecume II "weeks, months later".

"I remember for the first few weeks to months ... my head ... just couldn't remember anything."

Artur Sevash-Zade denies the charges against him

Mr Carr said that, although he said in interviews that he instructed Mr Sevash-Zade to do a pre-arrival task, he told that court that "I don't remember if I actually instructed him to remove the bridge wing cover".

He also said out of the four days the men worked together as a bridge team, he only sent him to breakfast early the morning of the collision due to the ferry being 35 minutes late.

Questioned by Mr Sevash-Zade's defence team, Mr Carr told the jury he was under "commercial pressure" as the lookout needed to be sent to the vehicle deck to help with offloading.

"They encouraged us to try and get back on time by letting the watchman have breakfast 10 to 15 minutes during the sea passage," he said.

He added that, although it was part of the standing orders to have two crew on the deck at all times, "it was a practice that crept in when the ship was late".

When asked if the lookout needed permission to act and undertake duties, Mr Carr said lookouts would do tasks "on their own accord" and that they knew "how do to their job".

Mr Carr told the jury that once Mr Sevash-Zade returned from breakfast he pointed out L'Ecume II in the distance and said both of them should monitor it.

The prosecution said Mr Carr did not verbalise properly with the lookout about how he intended to monitor L'Ecume II and whether or not the Goodwill was the vessel which should give way or not.

Mr Carr said "communication could've been better" and that he "could've said more to the lookout". He accepted he could have acted to avoid the fishing trawler "a minute or two earlier" if there had been "communication both ways".

The trial continues.