Sailor on Scottish ship jailed for 1½ years over deadly Baltic collision
A BRITISH sailor has been jailed for 18 months over a fatal collision between a cargo ship and a barge in the Baltic Sea.
David Wilkinson, 30, admitted a charge of recklessness at sea after the Invernessregistered Scot Carrier collided with Danish barge the Karin Hoej off the Swedish coast in December last year.
One man was found dead on the Danish vessel while the other crew member was lost at sea, presumed dead.
Yesterday, at Copenhagen City Court, Wilkinson was sentenced to one-and-a-half years in prison for his role in the collision.
He pleaded guilty in court to negligent manslaughter and sailing under the influence of alcohol, and was banned from entering Denmark for the next 12 years.
Wilkinson will also be unable to pilot a ship into Danish waters until further notice, the court ruled.
The court found that Wilkinson continued to sail on after the collision, without providing help or assistance to the crew aboard the Karin Hoej. Prosecutor Anders Larsson, from the Copenhagen Police force, said yesterday: ‘This is a case that has had some very serious consequences.
‘Two families have lost a family member due to the actions and behaviour of convicts.
‘The length of the sentence reflects this seriousness and I am satisfied that the court followed my sentence.’
Originally jailed in Malmö, Sweden, Wilkinson was extradited to Denmark under a Nordic arrest warrant, which allows Scandinavian countries to arrange the mutual extradition of prisoners .
The 300ft Scot Carrier was en route from Latvia to the east coast of Scotland when it collided with the 180ft Karin Hoej at around 3.30am on December 13.
Rescuers reported hearing screams in the water after the Karin Hoej ‘almost immediately’ capsized following the collision.
At least nine boats, a plane and a helicopter searched near the wreckage in a 25-mile-wide stretch of the Baltic Sea between southern Sweden and the Danish island of Bornholm.
The two vessels are said to have crashed in thick fog.
The overturned Karin Hoej was later towed away to shallower water to enable Swedish divers to investigate the hull.
Initially, it had been hoped that the crew might be alive inside an air pocket within the vessel.
A Croatian man, 56, was also arrested on suspicion of operating a vessel under the influence of alcohol but was subsequently released by Swedish authorities.