Captain found drunk on oil tanker

Grishchenko had worked at sea for 25 years before being fired

A Russian sea captain was found drunk on board his tanker just hours before it was due to sail from Scotland's only oil refinery, a court has heard.

Yuriy Grishchenko was two-and-a-half times the legal alcohol limit after downing wine with shipmates while the tanker was docked in Grangemouth.

Police caught Grishchenko, who had full responsibility for the safety of his ship and crew, after being tipped-off.

He was fined £1,700 after admitting the offence at Falkirk Sheriff Court.

Fiscal depute Ziad Hassan said the Russian national - who earned up to £4,500 a month as the ship's captain - had been due to transport thousands of tonnes of oil from the Ineos oil refinery down the Firth of Forth shipping route.

As ship master he is never actually off duty and is responsible for the safety of the vessel and the crew John Mulholland Defence solicitor

Mr Hassan said: "At the time of the offence he was a ship's master of the motor tanker Dale - a vessel with a weight of 13,032 tonnes.

"The boat was loaded with a cargo of approximately 10,000 tonnes of black fuel oil.

"He was noted as being under the influence of alcohol at approximately 1730 BST by a shipping agent who notified the police and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency."

Grishchenko, 58, pleaded guilty to acting as the professional master of a ship on 26 September while the proportion of alcohol in his breath was 90 microgrammes in 100 millilitres of breath - the legal limit is 35, as it also is for driving.

Defence solicitor John Mulholland said Grishchenko had been sacked by the Columbia Ship Management Company following the incident.

'Intoxicated state'

He added: "The loading was done before midday, so he and two others consumed alcohol during the day. They drank bottles of wine on board.

"He then went to his cabin and was asleep when police came. As ship master he is never actually off duty and is responsible for the safety of the vessel and the crew at all times.

"He would not have been steering the ship out of Grangemouth - a pilot does that - then he and his crew would take over once in deep water channels east of Edinburgh."

Sheriff Raymond McMenamin said the idea of the vessel leaving port with its captain drunk was "horrendous".

He said: "You were the master of a substantial vessel and you were responsible at all times for issues of safety.

"The vessel was due to depart just a few hours after you were found in an intoxicated state.

"By drinking so much you departed seriously from your responsibilities."