Manslaughter-accused ferry crew ‘ignored flashing warnings’

Two members of a ferry crew accused of manslaughter ignored flashing warnings 10 minutes before a collision in which three fishermen died when their boat sank off the coast of Jersey, prosecutors have told a court.

L’Ecume II sank after a collision with the Commodore Goodwill ferry on 8 December 2022.

Artur Sevash-Zade, 35, and Lewis Carr, 30, who were both employed by Condor Ferries at the time, each deny three counts of gross negligence manslaughter after the deaths of fishing boat skipper Michael Michieli, 62, and Filipino crew members Larry Simyunn, 33, and Jervis Baligat, 31.

In the prosecution’s opening statement, Jersey’s Royal Court heard “negligent actions” onboard the Commodore Goodwill were the cause of the collision at sea because there was “ample time” to take action.

Mr Sevash-Zade, a Ukrainian national, and Mr Carr, from Sunderland, also each denied a breach of Jersey’s shipping law relating to a failure to discharge duties related to their ship in a manner likely to cause “loss destruction, death or injury”.

The prosecution told the court Mr Sevash-Zade and Mr Carr were experienced seamen and if they had done their jobs properly the collision and the resulting deaths would never have happened.

L’Ecume II had been heading to Long Banks on the north-west coast of Jersey, leaving at 04:15 GMT, with the visibility “remarkably good for that time of year”, the court was told.

Local weather reports for between 05:00 and 06:00 GMT found winds of F2-F3, wave heights of 0.3m (0.9ft), no rainfall and visibility of up to 45km (28 mile), jurors heard.

Crown Advocate Matthew Maletroit, for the prosecution, said the trip had ended “in tragedy” with the collision taking place at 05:35 GMT – the L’Ecume II had been doing about 9mph (14km/h) and the Commodore Goodwill over double at 19mph (30km/h).

The court heard the Commodore Goodwill had been 35 minutes late to Jersey and was sailing at full speed “in an effort to make up for lost time”.

Mr Maletroit told the court a collision was “so easily avoided” and it was “not a freak accident, it was purely the consequence of human error and negligence”.

He said “on near perfect sailing conditions” it “should not have been a particularly challenging task”.

The prosecution alleges the cause of the crash was due to a “catalogue of failings” on the part of Mr Carr and Mr Sevash-Zade, with no one acting as a proper lookout or monitoring the position of L’Ecume II, which was the only vessel in the vicinity.

The court heard the pair were the only crew onboard the ferry’s navigational bridge when the collision took place and that Mr Carr was the most senior person in charge there due to the captain being on a mandatory rest break.

The Commodore Goodwill had “excellent” viewings of the bay with a 360-degree lookout, the prosecution said.

Mr Maletroit said the ferry was fitted with three radar systems “to detect nearby objects and hazards”.

Collision warnings were flashing up to 10 minutes prior to the collision and there was “ample time for the defendants to do something”, Mr Maletroit told the court, but the defendants were working on “non-urgent” tasks ahead of the ferry’s arrival in Jersey.

Action was taken “seconds before impact”, he said.

Although there is no speed limit at sea, Mr Maletroit told jurors there was an “obligation” to keep a safe speed and distance from other vessels to ensure enough time to prevent a collision.

The prosecution said “no effort was made to reduce to Goodwill’s speed” as it hit L’Ecume II at a full speed of 18 knots (19mph/30km/h).

The ongoing trial at the Government of Jersey’s Parade Studio is expected to last up to four weeks.

A jury of 14 people were sworn in on Monday morning, with the presiding judge, Commissioner Sir John Saunders, saying only 12 were required to give a verdict but the length of the trial meant it was important to have some contingency.