A SECOND officer onboard the Commodore Goodwill described going out on a lifeboat in search of the L’Ecume II crew in the moments after the fishing trawler collided with the Condor freight ship.
Philip Ablett was giving evidence in the trial of Lewis Carr (30), who was also a second officer on the Goodwill, and Artur Sevash-Zade (35), who was hired as an able seaman.
Mr Carr and Mr Sevash-Zade were the only two crew members on the Commodore Goodwill’s deck when she collided with L’Ecume II in the early hours of 8 December 2022.
Skipper Michael Michieli and crew members Larry Ladion Simyunn and Jervis Ramirez Baligat all died after the collision.
Mr Carr and Mr Sevash-Zade are on trial for three manslaughter charges and one alternative charge of endangering ships, structures and people.
As second officers, Mr Ablett and Mr Carr alternated eight-hour shifts.
Mr Ablett told the court yesterday that he was sleeping in his cabin when the collision happened. He said he heard a “bang” but didn’t know what had happened.
He realised it was “serious” when he heard a man-overboard announcement over the tannoy.
“It ended with ‘this is not a drill’,” said Mr Ablett.
He told that court that he went to the rescue boat and searched the area around the ship in a 36-person lifeboat for between one-and-a-half and two hours.
Those aboard the Goodwill “thought they had spotted something with the ship searchlight”, he said.
Mr Ablett continued: “The only thing I could really remember we found was a piece of wood which I can only assume was a piece of wreckage.
“We asked if they wanted us to collect it. We were told no.”
He described a smell of diesel around the area of the collision.
Later, Mr Ablett went to see Mr Carr, who had been sent to his cabin.
Advocate Simon Thomas, defending Mr Carr, said: “You went to Lewis’s cabin. He was there on his own.
“When you went in, did you give him a hug to reassure him that everything was alright?”
Mr Ablett agreed.
Advocate Thomas asked: “Did he appear to be shell-shocked?”
Mr Ablett replied: “Yes.”
The court also heard from a Ports of Jersey watch officer who had been watching the two boats on his radar, but was on the toilet in the moments before the collision.
John Thelland said there was “nothing abnormal” about the Goodwill’s route but explained that, when he returned from the toilet, the two boats’ tracking systems were “relatively on top of each other”.
Believing it to be a close-pass situation, he replayed the scene to prepare a report later on.
Mr Thelland said he then got a radio call from the Goodwill informing him they had had a collision.
He said he would have expected this to be a “mayday” call, but acknowledged to the defence that the key piece of information was still conveyed.
The trial is scheduled for a total of four weeks.
Commissioner Sir John Saunders is presiding.
