THE captain of an oil tanker was faced with his ''worst nightmare'' when he had to be rescued while returning to his ship in an inflatable dinghy after a five hour drinking session ashore, a maritime tribunal heard yesterday.
The hearing in Eastleigh, Hampshire, is being held to decide whether Captain Clive Mottram, 54, from Southampton, and his Chief Engineer John Blamires, 46, of Buxton, Derbyshire, were guilty of misconduct and negligence.
The two sailors, who have since been sacked by Exxon-Mobil, the owners of the 82,000-tonne Matco Clyde, want the tribunal to overturn the revocation of their mariners' licences.
The hearing has been told how the pair, along with a third officer Alastair MacCleod and Chief Petty Officer Joseph Durkin, went drinking in the fishing village
of Macduff after anchoring 13 miles off shore on March 23 this year.
But their trip turned to disaster as the sailors tried to return to the ship in a 16ft semi-rigid dinghy, the tribunal has heard. The boat was driven into a harbour wall causing it to partially deflate. Force Six winds had blown up during the afternoon and they ran out of fuel half way back.
''To say we had a slight problem would be an understatement,'' Captain Mottram told the hearing.
Worried harbour masters who had seen the collision alerted coastguards and the men were eventually rescued from the swamped boat by an RAF helicopter despatched from Lossie-mouth.
''I saw the lights of the helicopter coming towards us and my world's worst nightmare was unfolding at that stage,'' he said.
''I think for any mariner it (being rescued) is the worst time of your life, especially when you are the captain of a tanker and this is unfolding before you.''
It was claimed that all four had consumed several pints and were drunk. Captain Mottram was described as being slumped over the steering wheel and in a ''semi-conscious state through drink''.
But he insists he only had three pints of lager during the five hours the sailors had spent ashore, mostly in the Macduff Arms.
Mr Mottram's counsel Stephen Killalea had told the tribunal how his client was not drunk but had been suffering from hypothermia and low blood sugar levels.
While questioning Captain Mottram as he gave his evidence, Mr Killalea said: ''At this stage it was thought your physical condition was due to you being drunk. Was that true?''
Captain Mottram replied: ''It certainly wasn't alcohol, that is a fact. It was the effects of the cold, shock and seeing the helicopter coming towards us. It wasn't alcohol.''
The hearing was adjourned until today.
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