THE Captain of the Commodore Goodwill has described how he was called to the ship’s bridge from his cabin in the minutes after it had hit fishing trawler L’Ecume II.
Captain Radoslaw Zelazny appeared in the Royal Court on Friday to talk about the collision, which happened at 5.35am on 8 December 2022, about four nautical miles from St Ouen’s Bay.
All three L’Ecume II crew members – skipper Michael Michieli (62) as well as Jervis Baligat (31) and Larry Simyunn (33) – died following the incident.
Two members of the Goodwill crew, Lewis Carr (30) and Artur Sevash-Zade (35), deny three manslaughter charges relating to the incident.
They were the only people on the boat’s bridge at the time, with Mr Carr acting as officer of the watch and Mr Sevash-Zade as his lookout.
Advocate Mike Preston, defending, said Mr Sevash-Zade had been on watch for the first time the week of the collision.
Yesterday, Captain Zelazny told the court how he heard the ship’s horn blasted at least five times, and received a call from Mr Carr to come up to the bridge.
Previously, the jury was played an audio recording with eight blasts of the horn, followed by a four- or five-second break before the collision can be heard.
The captain got a call from the bridge, but said Mr Carr didn’t tell him on the call that they had had a collision.
When he arrived, he said his priority was the safety of the ship and its crew, for example making sure it wasn’t taking water.
Captain Zelazny then directed the ship to return towards the collision site.
“I was hoping we would be able to recover people from the water,” he said. “I really didn’t know what to expect.”
He recounted how after some time, he sent Mr Carr away to his cabin.
“I didn’t think he was in a fit state to assist in what was happening on the bridge and I thought that it would be best for him if he was away from the bridge,” he said.
He said he wasn’t aware of any reasons why the ship couldn’t have turned back or slowed down earlier.
Previously, the court heard from crew members who were onboard the Goodwill during the collision, most of them in their cabins.
Meanwhile, the defence advocates have been questioning whether L’Ecume II had been using the right lights at the time of the incident.
Captain Zelazny said he regularly saw fishing boats that used their fishing lights while they were going to their fishing grounds. The court heard earlier this week that this is not allowed, and that the green-and-white fishing lights should only come on when the boat is actually fishing.
L’Ecume II skipper Mr Michieli was in the habit of turning his fishing lights on at all times, the court heard earlier this week from others who had worked with him.
Captain Zelazny yesterday said it was normal procedure for the ship’s master to hand over the control of the ship to the second officer when the ship was away from pilotage waters.
He would take back over in pilotage waters, as he was certified to navigate there.
He added that he expected the bridge team to call him if they were unsure of anything.
“I would like to be called at any time,” he said, “be it: ‘We’ve run out of coffee’.”
Captain Zelazny described the Master’s Standing Orders, which he issued to the crew, as well as other regulations. He also described his experience when he was in control of the ship.
When Crown Advocate Matthew Maletroit, prosecuting, asked him whether he would feel undermined if his lookout questioned a change he had made.
Captain Zelazny said with a laugh: “I wouldn’t feel undermined at all. Why would I feel undermined? I would appreciate that.”
The jury trial started on Monday 1 September, and is scheduled to last four weeks.
If jurors find either defendant not guilty of manslaughter, they can consider an alternative charge of endangering individuals, ships or structures under the Shipping (Jersey) Law 2022.
Commissioner Sir John Saunders is presiding.
