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Tanker captain sentenced to suspended prison after collison in Bay of Biscay

The master of the "Peter Paul" which had struck the fishing vessel "Rupella" on Nov 18, 2014, in Saint-Pierre-d'Oléron was convicted. The "Rupella" had been crossing the fairway off Hourtin when the 16.30 m-boat was run over by the "Peter Paul", carrying methanol and headed by an Indian crew. The watchman on the "Rupella" did not detect the vessel approaching on the port side. One fisherman who slept awoke, climbed quickly on the bridge and saw the tanker leave without trying to get in contact with the "Rupella". The fishing boat, thanks to a favorable tide, managed to reach its home port Cotinière in Oléron several hours later. Meanwhile, the Indian officers alerted the captaincy to Bordeaux. The "Peter Paul", enroute from Bilbao, had crossed the Bay of Biscay to Bordeaux. The captains of both ships were summoned to the Maritime Chamber of the Tribunal de Grande Instance, Bordeaux, in response to a breach of the rules of the Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (Colreg), in particular establishing rules of priority. The tanker captain saw that there were several trawlers in the area, he had to be even more attentive. Prosecutor Nathalie Mathieu requested 10 months of suspended prison against the two defendants. Only the captain of the "Peter Paul" will be sentenced to eight months of suspended prison.