Key Aspects:
- The Belgian and Dutch authorities discovered a drunk captain of a river cruise ship at a checkpoint in Belgium.
- The captain was removed from his duties onboard and his license was suspended.
- For most cruise lines, intoxication is grounds for immediate termination because it can lead to safety risks.
Everyone’s heard of drinking and driving (and why you shouldn’t do it), but operating a cruise ship while intoxicated is much more unusual.
However, a drunk captain of a river cruise ship was caught red-handed at a police checkpoint near the Albert Canal in Belgium. The operation was conducted through a partnership between Belgian and Dutch authorities.
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Officers inspected nine commercial ships and one river cruise ship through the operation, during which the overindulgent captain was discovered. He tested over the legal limit for Belgium, which is 0.5 g/l in the blood or 0.22 mg/l of exhaled breath.
For professionals (e.g., operators of heavy goods vehicles), the limit drops to 0.2 g/l in the blood or 0.09 mg/l of exhaled breath.
“In total, 9 vessels and 1 river cruise ship were inspected. All active crew members took a breathalyzer test,” The Belgium Police confirmed in a Facebook post, which has been translated to English.
“The skipper of a river cruise ship carrying 106 passengers tested positive for alcohol. His boating license was immediately revoked,” the post continued.
The unidentified captain was relieved of his post and another sober officer took over on his behalf. His license was suspended and he will most likely be slapped with a fine from the Flemish Waterway authorities.
Which Cruise Ship Was It?
At this time, it’s unclear when exactly the checkpoint was operating and the cruise ship in question was only publicly identified as traveling from Antwerp, Belgium, to Maastricht in the Netherlands.
Cruise Hive also learned that the vessel is Swiss-owned, and that 106 passengers were onboard.
According to cruise tracking data for the beginning of June, Switzerland-based cruise lines like Scylla VIVA Cruises have been in the area, but its ship, VIVA Inspire, sailed from Antwerp to Utrecht instead of Maastricht.
There is more of a possibility that the captain was working for Viking River Cruises, which is one of the biggest river cruise operators in Belgium, though this has not been confirmed.
Viking Kvasir sailed from Antwerp on June 5 to Maastricht on June 6 as part of a 9-night sailing to Amsterdam and has a capacity for a maximum of 190 guests (but it’s totally possible that only 106 were onboard).
Viking River Cruises is also headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, which is where the 5,000-gross ton vessel is also registered.
No Tolerance For Intoxication
An intoxicated captain is certainly a surprise, as the ship captain is the highest authority on both river and ocean cruise ships and is supposed to set the standard that other crew members follow. In addition to facing legal penalties, the captain almost certainly lost his job.
For the mainstream cruise lines, a strict blood alcohol limit of 0.04% is usually enforced, which equates to consuming one standard drink for the average person. Typically, crew members are also not allowed to drink alcohol within several hours of going on shift.
If a crew member is caught violating this rule, it is considered cause for immediate termination as it poses a safety risk.
Crew members must be able to respond appropriately and efficiently in the event of an emergency, which they cannot do while intoxicated.
Being too drunk while steering the ship also takes this to a whole other level of danger, though thankfully, no injuries or collisions were reported in this situation.
