By Mr Carr,Tom Innes
Copyright jerseyeveningpost
PREVIOUS experience involving other ships meant a crewman on the Commodore Goodwill wasn’t initially concerned about the proximity of a fishing trawler in the minutes before a fatal collision occurred, a jury has heard.
Giving evidence during the 14th day of a Royal Court trial, Artur Sevash-Zade said in the minutes prior to the incident there had been “no concern” that the Goodwill and L’Ecume II would collide.
All three members of L’Ecume’s crew, captain Michael Michieli and crewmen Larry Simyunn and Jervis Baligat, died following the collision on 8 December 2022. Both Mr Sevash-Zade (35) and his colleague Lewis Carr, the 30-year-old second officer on the Goodwill, deny three counts of manslaughter.
Answering questions from Advocate Simon Thomas, the defence lawyer for Mr Carr, Mr Sevash-Zade said that in one of his previous jobs there had been similar cases where an oncoming boat appeared likely to come close.
“There were a lot of such situations when I was working on a boat that operated from Barcelona to Mallorca,” he said.
The Ukrainian crewman said he had been preparing equipment on the wings adjacent to the Goodwill’s bridge and raising flags in preparation for the freight vessel’s anticipated arrival into St Helier Harbour.
Mr Sevash-Zade said he had left the bridge having been cleared to carry out his duties by Mr Carr.
Mr Preston asked how Mr Carr was at the time.
“He didn’t raise any concern, he looked calm and his voice was calm as normal,” Mr Sevash-Zade said. “There was no concern that we would go into danger.”
The court heard that Mr Sevash-Zade had raised two flags and removed covers from equipment on the bridge wings, immediately after which he then saw how close L’Ecume was.
Mr Preston said the crewman had then gone back inside and told Mr Carr about the oncoming vessel, asking: “Is this f***ing guy asleep?”
Mr Sevash-Zade said that in the immediate aftermath of the crash, a “man overboard” alarm had been activated, and he had attempted to see whether L’Ecume was visible, but did not see anything.
The jury trial – now in its third week – is scheduled to last four weeks.
Commissioner Sir John Saunders is presiding.
