Soviets blame N.Z. pilot; jail liner officer

Press, 30 August 1986, Page 1

Soviets blame N.Z. pilot; jail liner officer

By

MARTIN FREETH,

in Wellington

A Soviet officer in the Mikhail Lermontov has been jailed for four years after a Soviet inquiry which found also that Captain Don Jamison was guilty of the shipwreck.

The Minister of Transport, Mr Prebble, yesterday released a translated copy of the inquiry findings which blame Captain Jamison for his decision, which it says was not justified, to pilot the liner through a dangerous passage off Cape Jackson in the Marlborough Sounds last February 16. Three Soviet officers were also found culpable, one of whom was responsible for control of the ship at the time and followed Captain Jamison’s command without checking it properly. Mr Prebble said Soviet authorities had informed him that the officer, Chief Navigator Sergey Stepanischev, had been sentenced to prison for four years. No Soviet action can be taken against Captain Jamison. New Zealand police decided last month that no prosecution would be taken against him in this country because of difficulties assembling evidence. Captain Jamison, the Marlborough Harbour

Board’s chief pilot at the time and still its Harbourmaster, was blamed also for the Mikhail Lermontov’s grounding by a Ministry of Transport preliminary marine inquiry. While the jail term imposed on the Soviet navigator was a “bit harsh,” Mr Prebble said, it would probably make the police here “more unhappy that they feel unable to bring a prosecution.” The ship’s master, Captain Vladislav Vorobyov, has been transferred permanently to shore duties after the Soviet inquiry found he failed to ensure the Mikhail Lermontov’s safety or observe standard regulations for safe navigation. The second mate, Sergey Gusev, has had his marine licence removed for two years after it was found that he did not report to the master his doubts about Captain Jamison’s actions or persist in questioning them. The findings state that the second mate told the chief navigator that the

ship was headed for danger after Captain Jamison ordered a course close to Cape Jackson. The Soviet authorities studied the conclusions of the New Zealand inquiry and had transcripts of the evidence given during it. Captain Jamison was not interviewed in the Soviet inquiry. Mr Prebble said a transcript of his evidence, not yet made public because of High Court action involving it, shed no more light on Captain Jamison’s action. “It was a spur of the moment thing and he can’t now explain it,” Mr Prebble said. He ruled out any moves by the Government to have the Marlborough Harbour Board review its employment of Captain Jamison or to have the police reopen an investigation. Mr Prebble said he had sympathy for the board which viewed Captain Jamison as competent to hold his’ position and could not act as a court

over the sinking. He agreed that the police should not bring a case if they were unable to provide the evidence they needed, although, he said that' that was “regrettable.” Mr Prebble also ruled out any Soviet claim for damages against New Zealand. The National Party’s spokesman for transport, Mr Winston Peters, criticised Mr Prebble for not ordering a formal inquiry into the sinking. “Mr Prebble should not be allowed to get away with such lame, inconsistent excuses for his gross failure to fulfil his Ministerial responsibilities.” To say now that he could not order a formal inquiry into the Russian liner grounding because it was not registered in New Zealand was utter nonsense, both in law and fact, he said. “Moreover, Ministerial instructions on inquiries cover all ships with no distinction as to flag," said Mr Peters.