A ship’s officer in charge during a fatal collision between a ferry and a fishing boat has been sentenced to one year and eight months in prison.
Lewis Carr, 30, was on duty on the bridge of the Commodore Goodwill when it struck the trawler L’Ecume II off the coast of Jersey in December 2022, killing fishermen Michael Michieli, Larry Simyunn and Jervis Baligat.
Carr was convicted in September of breaching Jersey’s shipping law, though jurors were unable to reach verdicts on three gross negligence manslaughter charges.
The Royal Court heard the Goodwill was behind schedule, and Carr ignored flashing collision alerts on the vessel’s radars for 10 minutes before the crash. Prosecutors described a catalogue of failings that proved deadly.
Crown Advocate Matthew Maletroit said Carr failed to properly communicate with lookout Arthur Sevash Zade, 35, about the risk of collision. Sevash-Zade had been acquitted of gross negligence manslaughter, and the jury could not agree on the shipping law charge against him.
Just minutes into Sevash-Zade’s shift, Carr asked if he wanted to go for breakfast, leaving Carr alone on the bridge — a breach of industry standards.
Maletroit said this showed safety was not Carr’s “paramount consideration,” adding that he appeared willing to take risks for convenience.
He stressed that Carr had not properly used radar technology and misjudged that L’Ecume II would pass safely. Carr was also said to be distracted by non-urgent tasks while collision warnings flashed on screen.
The Crown sought a 23-month sentence for discharging his duty in a manner likely to cause “death, destruction or injury.”
Defence advocate Simon Thomas argued this would be excessive, noting that international regulations placed some responsibility on L’Ecume II’s crew to avoid the ferry. He said Carr’s attempt to alter course showed he had not simply done nothing to prevent the crash.
