GRENAA STAR HL112

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Skipper fined after running his ship into breakwater while being intoxicated

At a hearing on Apr 18, 2015, at South Shields Magistrates Court, Robert Trueman, the owner and skipper of the "Grenaa Star" was fined a total of £5,000 plus costs of £4,536.18 after pleading guilty for failing to keep a good lookout. Trueman was also ordered to carry out 120 hours of community service and to pay £60 victim surcharge. On the morning of Dec 17, 2013, the "Grenaa Star" left the North Shields Fish Quay bound for the North Sea fishing grounds. Shortly after leaving, the vessel struck the south breakwater, began taking in water and was quickly grounded on the nearby Littlehaven Beach to prevent it sinking. The incident was reported by a passing vessel. At the time of the allision the "Grenaa Star" had a crew of three onboard. The vessel was attended by Officers from the Marine Unit of Northumbria Police. Once on board they ascertained that Trueman had been alone in the wheelhouse with the two other crewmen being below decks at the time of the collision. Trueman was found in the wheelhouse and had sustained an injury to his head which was bleeding, and there was blood on the wheelhouse instrument panel. Trueman said he had been thrown onto it on impact. The officer could smell alcohol and requested a breath test. Trueman refused, saying that he was concerned about the vessel and crew. He admitted that at the time of the collision the vessel had been on autopilot. When Trueman left the vessel 2,5 hours after the collision he failed a breath test giving a reading of 58 (legal limit 35 mg/l). Subsequently, about 5 hours after the collision he provided a urine sample which on subsequent analysis revealed a reading of 65 mg/100ml (legal limit 107). When interviewed by police on the Dec 24, 2013, Trueman denied he was in the wheelhouse; saying that another member of the crew had been in charge of the vessel while he had been below in the engine room. At the time of the collision Trueman said, he had been returning to the wheelhouse. Once the results of the urine test were known, the police handed over the investigation to the Enforcement Unit of the MCA. In June 2014 Trueman provided a voluntary statement admitting he had been alone in the wheelhouse at the time of the collision. The matter was then taken forward by the MCA for a breach of maritime safety legislation. As a result of damage received during the allision, the "Grenaa Star" has now been scrapped. Robert Trueman, aged 55, from Hartlepool pleaded guilty to one offence of failing to keep a good lookout as required by Rule 5 of the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea 1974, as amended. He was given community service of 120 hours over the next 15 months, fined £5,000 and ordered to pay costs of £4,536.18 and a £60 victim surcharge. In passing sentence His Honour Judge Hickey said Trueman relying on the auto-pilot had been a serious admission and clearly he had taken a quantity of alcohol. But he said that while the custody threshold had been crossed, he was satisfied the sentence was sufficient.

Grenaa Star refloated

The "Grenaa Star" has been re-floated up the Tyne on Dec 21. For the last three days experts have tried to move the vessel. At low tide in the morning, salvors from Tyne & Wear Marine, assisted by workers from the Port of Tyne and the Harbourmaster, Captain Mike Nicholson, made her hull waterproof enough for water to be pumped out. After she was refloated, she was sandwiched between the Tyne & Wear Marine barge "Prosper" and the Port’s workboat "Sir Bobby Robson". The trawler was then towed to the former Readheads yard at Tyne Dock, where her future will be decided by insurers. Report with photo: http://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/local/stricken-hartlepool-fishing-boat-is-re-floated-1-6329575

No pollution risk from grounded vessel

The "Grenaa Star" did not pose a pollution threat while it remained stranded off Littlehaven Beach. Oil and petrol have been safely drained. Work on the stranded vessel continued on Dec 19. It was hoped that the damaged bow can be repaired well enough to enable the boat to be refloated, and for it then to be dragged up the beach. The shallow water and low tides have, so far, made this impossible.