Coast Guard arrests container ship captain in Seattle
Aug. 23, 2025 at 5:13 pm
By Lauren Rosenblatt, Seattle Times staff reporter
The Coast Guard has arrested the captain of a container ship in Seattle on suspicion of boating under the influence.
The captain was aboard a 333-meter container ship operating under the Liberian flag, according to a Saturday press release from the Coast Guard.
On Wednesday, the pilot on board notified the Coast Guard that the captain was exhibiting signs of intoxication. The pilot and first mate operated the container ship from an anchorage near Everett to Terminal 5 at the Port of Seattle, docking without incident.
Upon mooring, agents from the Coast Guard Investigative Service boarded the ship and initiated a field sobriety and Breathalyzer tests. The investigators found the captain was “impaired more than six times the legal limit” for commercial mariners, according to the press release.
The agency did not release the identity or any details about the captain or crew.
The captain was arrested and taken to King County Jail. A decision whether to charge the captain is up to the King County prosecutor.
The Coast Guard detained the container ship until a relief captain was identified. It has since cleared the vessel to resume operations.
The “immediate intervention” of the pilot who operated the ship to the Port of Seattle terminal “mitigated significant risks and ensured the safe passage of the vessel,” Paul Shultz, special agent in charge at the Coast Guard Investigative Service Northwest Field Office, said in a statement.
The investigation into the incident continues, according to the Coast Guard’s release.
Absolutely hilarious!!! 333 m container ship, and the captain is booked on a charge of “boating under the influence”
AHAHAHAHA!!!
The captain was arrested and transported to the King County Jail. Charges were referred to the King County prosecutor for boating under the influence, and the case remains under investigation. The prosecutor’s office did not immediately return a request for comment.*****
Washington state has no jurisdiction over commercial ship officers. A result of the 1990s Intertanko court decision that ruled only the USCG has jurisdiction over them.
The state can’t prosecute a merchant mariner for violating any rule which infringes on the federal realm.
So, if WA wants to arrest a merchant marine officer for being drunk it has to get inventive. Hence, the intoxicated while boating thing.
In court the arrest would likely be overturned because of jurisdiction. But it may be that the state is trying to force the USCG to act on the matter. Or it may be that the state, to make sure that evidence was collected in a timely matter, decided to jump in early in case the local USCG was busy with something else.
WA has this tiny organization that acts as a pseudo-USCG, which is always looking for something to justify their existence. I think they were involved with this.
Really dumb question and I am no way suggesting this as a good idea, but if the captain had just made himself scarce and let the mate take over would he have got busted? Probably the pilot would have wondered where he went.
This happened here too many years ago, the pilot was cycling through a few crew members and then anchored the ship when he realized they were ALL drunk I think they got as far as the Patuxent River IIRC.
Sorry to bring U bad news. Have been working with both and can not see the difference regarding drinking. To cheer You up Poles drink too as well as Indians , Srilankans and Filippino.
The others ( Anglo -Saxons ) drink too but one beer is enough to get them stoned.
Well in this particular case and after seeing your question and your input in #2 one may suspect I am sorry about the sorry state of your wits. Trust it explains.
That would be quite unusual and would raise my suspicion, especially on such a short trip (this was about a 2.5-3 hour shift) after the ship had been at anchor for a day or so. At an absolute bare minimum, the captain should meet with the pilot upon boarding, and be on the bridge while weighing anchor and approaching the berth/docking. Depending on the exact layout, the pilot and captain are going to be essentially shoulder to shoulder on the bridge wing for the docking.
I haven’t seen any sign that a WA agency was or has gotten involved. The report went to the CG directly from the pilot and they were the ones that conducted the boarding, assessment and arrest. However, to your point, I am a bit surprised that there is, apparently, no federal prosecution involved in this and they have to rely on King County to handle the case. 33 CFR Part 95 would seem to cover this, regardless of the nationality of the crew in question.
The Captain is experiencing flu like symptoms, fever, coughing, diarrhea & body aches. The ships medic has been notified & Capt is isolating in his quarters. Give a phone to the pilot & the captain tries his damnest to keep it together for a minute to instruct the chief mate & pilot to call him if they have any problems. Unfortunately I’ve seen it (never in US waters), been there, done that. And that was before the Covid pandemic when medical isolation was unheard of. That drunk captain should have stayed in his room.
I remember relieving a C/E and found the stateroom closet stacked floor to ceiling with his beer. If I recall correctly, it was Orangeboom. This was early mid 80’s. Not my first C/E job but close to it.
I think they got as far as the Patuxent River IIRC.
