Captain arrested on suspicion of operating container ship drunk

A container ship captain was arrested in Seattle, accused of operating the vessel while drunk with a blood alcohol content level six times the limit for mariners.

A container ship captain was arrested after authorities accused him of operating the vessel while drunk, with a blood alcohol level six times the legal limit for mariners.

The captain of the MSC Jubilee IX — a 333-meter container ship operating under the Liberian flag — was arrested Wednesday in Seattle, the Coast Guard said in a news release Saturday. The captain’s name was not disclosed.

A Puget Sound pilot aboard the ship had reported to the Coast Guard watchstanders that the captain was “exhibiting signs of intoxication.” The pilot and first mate operated the vessel from near Everett, Washington, to the Port of Seattle “without incident,” the release said.

After the ship moored at Terminal 5, a Coast Guard team and Coast Guard Investigative Service agents boarded the vessel.

The captain completed a field sobriety and Breathalyzer test, “which found that he was impaired more than six times the legal limit for commercial mariners,” the Coast Guard said.