Ship Master
Convicted for Operating Under the Influence
1/21/05 10:17:04 AM
The master of a Panama-flagged freighter was convicted Wednesday of operating a
commercial vessel while under the influence of alcohol and was fined $3,000 and
ordered not to operate a vessel in U.S. waters for one year. Immigration
officials are also processing Hungarian Janos Gyori, 52, for deportation.
Gyori was
arrested Jan. 11 after the Captain of the Port of Hampton Roads
denied entry of the 214-foot General Lee. The vessel had been targeted for both
security and safety boardings using the Coast Guard's standard risk assessment
procedures. The freighter failed to stop 12 miles offshore for a security
check, and Gyori did not respond to the Coast Guard over radio. After the team
detected alcohol on his breath, they conducted a field sobriety test, which he
failed. Gyori then refused to cooperate with a breath test. Under U.S.
regulations, a person refusing a chemical test when directed by a law
enforcement officer is considered intoxicated.
During
the trial, Gyori testified he only drank four beers and part of another the
night before he took the helm at 4 a.m. Coast Guard officers conducted six
sobriety tests, which he failed.
"Commercial
vessels are held to a higher standard under U.S. regulations for very good
reasons," said Captain of the Port Bob O'Brien. "This vessel was
carrying thousands of gallons of heavy fuel oil and would have passed through
the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel and
Monitor-Merrimac Bridge Tunnel. The master's intoxicated state put his vessel
and the port at high risk of a serious accident."
O'Brien
added that mariners can expect the same rapid, vigorous enforcement whenever
violations are detected.
