BALTIYSKIY-109

scrapped

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beached

beached at Aliaga 07.08.14

Captain may have killed himself in fear of sailing into storm

The captain of the "Baltiyskiy 109" may have hanged himself on Jan 5, 2014, in his cabin at Sharpness Docks because he feared sailing home in horrendous storms, a coroner said on Apr 9. Alexandera Budishchev, 53, from St. Petersburg, and his crew of 11, had endured a nightmare voyage across the Atlantic to Sharpness docks, an inquest was told. They docked on New Years' Day and were waiting for their cargo to be unloaded on Jan 6 but the morning before the skipper was found dead in the shower area of his cabin with a rope around his neck and over the door. He left no note and there was no known motive for him to kill himself except that he had been unhappy about the voyage and was concerned about the return journey. After removal of their cargo they were then to sail into the teeth of the expected storms. He was said to be upset at the prospect of setting sail again. However the coroner said he could not be absolutely certain about the captain's intentions so had to record an open conclusion, rather than suicide. It was possible that Captain Budishchev did not intend to kill himself at all and was “experimenting” with the rope, which was looped three times around his neck but not knotted. The captain was wearing a neckerchief under the rope, which may have indicated he did not intend it to kill him, added the coroner. "The captain was slumped against the open shower room door. He had a length of blue rope around his neck. It went over the door and was tied to the handle. It was taut. The chief mate had last spoken to him on Jan 4 at 6 p.m. The next morning at 8.45 a.m. he had knocked the door to speak to him but got no reply so he used a master key to get in. Pathologist Dr Linmarie Ludeman said death was due to compression of the neck by the ligature. There was no trace of alcohol or drugs in his body.

Captain found dead with noose around his neck

Captain of general vessel Baltiyskiy-109 was found dead in his cabin on Jan 5 14 with noose around his neck, vessel was docked in Sharpness UK. Body was taken to morgue, investigation under way. As of morning Jan 10 vessel was still docked in Sharpness. A new master already arrived. Maritime Bulletin