Ferry Crash Officer Ordered: 'Get to Jersey Immediately'

The second officer of a Condor freight ferry involved in a fatal collision with a fishing boat was instructed by the captain to reach Jersey "as soon as possible," a court has been told.

Lewis Carr and Artur Sevash-Zade both deny three charges of gross negligence manslaughter following the deaths of skipper Michael Michieli and his L’Ecume II crew members, Larry Simyunn and Jervis Baligat, in December 2022.

Captain Radoslaw Zelazny testified at Jersey’s Royal Court that the Commodore Goodwill had departed Guernsey 35 minutes behind schedule. When handing over to Mr Carr, he said he asked him to make up time by heading for Jersey quickly and had already set the vessel’s engines to full speed.

The L’Ecume II sank after colliding with the freight ferry at 05:35 on 8 December 2022. Prosecutors allege Mr Carr and Mr Sevash-Zade failed to respond to flashing warnings in the minutes before the impact.

Answering defence questions, Capt Zelazny stated that Mr Carr had "full control of the speed and direction" of the ferry at the time of the crash. He described Carr, who had three years’ experience with Condor Ferries, as capable, and said he had never doubted his ability.

Zelazny, who had captained the Goodwill for 11 years, explained that bridge resource management training, designed to strengthen communication and improve decision-making, had been halted during the Covid-19 pandemic, before Carr joined the vessel.

"Very Calm, Very Professional"

Goodwill crew member Andrew Cains told the court in a written statement that following the collision, Carr was asked by the captain to write down everything that had occurred because an investigation was expected.

Cains said he later found Carr in the captain’s cabin making notes. When asked if he was all right, Carr reportedly replied:

"Yeah, but we were going full speed… that’s the only thing that’s worrying me."

Cains described Carr as "very calm" and "very professional" in the aftermath.

Before the criminal investigation began, Carr told Ports of Jersey interviewers on 9 December that he believed he had "about 10 seconds" to react after the fishing boat altered course. He said he made a sharp turn and sounded five short blasts on the ferry’s horn in an attempt to warn the other vessel.

The trial is ongoing.