Drunken captain causes panic with his cargo ship in South Korea

The vicissitudes of a drunken captain

Getting behind the wheel of a vehicle after drinking is a very bad idea. Furthermore, if the wheel is the rudder of ship sailing close to the coast, the situation can only take a turn for the worse.

Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened last February 28th near Busan, an important port hub of the South Korean coast. Here, the inebriated captain of a large Russian cargo ship caused panic near some jetties used as recreational berths.

The video below clearly shows the accident filmed from the shore.

The accident

The Seagrand, with a cargo of steel coils on board, had just left the port of Busan and was heading for the Sea of Japan. After a few miles of navigation, the ship inexplicably turned and headed straight for the coast again, entering a bay located a few miles away from the port of departure.

In the bay, the ship, as we can see in the images caught from her deck, crashes into some moored vessels. After repeated collisions, the captain tries to reverse almost like he wanted to escape the scene of the accident. Hurried and poorly performed, this maneuver, however, makes the cargo ship crash into the Gwangang Bridge, a long bridge crossing the bay.

At this point, the collision is not long in coming.

Like a crazy pinball ball, the Seagrand puts her bow under the bridge bay. The bump is violent, a crane on top of the cargo ship bends and the terrified crew members start running towards the aft section of the deck. Fortunately, the structure of the Gwangang Bridge does not collapse and stops the ship.

The captain, or better, the new “hit-and-run driver” goes on maneuvering to sort out as if nothing has happened. In this case, too, he seems to want to put out to sea with his ship.

To put an end to his craziness, a massive intervention by the Korean Coast Guard was necessary and four patrols finally obliged the Seagrand to return to the port.

Korean officials determined the captain’s blood alcohol level was above the legal limit. Authorities also suspect the first change of course had followed a first collision at sea.

The video below shows the whole accident caught from the ship. It’s a shame the audio has not been translated!