An MP is calling for answers to questions raised by the near disaster of a foreign ship with a drunken captain on board almost crashing into the Tay rail and road bridges.
Pete Wishart, member for Perth and North Perthshire, believes there are issues over the Frifjord episode that need to be addressed.
One is how the Norwegian-owned container ship was allowed to start its voyage from Perth harbour if the captain was inebriated.
Latvian Andrejs Borodins is awaiting a possible jail sentence for being almost four times over the alcohol limit while in charge of the 300ft ship as it sailed down the river.
He was preparing to negotiate the vessel through the shipping lanes under the rail and road bridges on July 28 but could not carry out instructions given to him by a Dundee pilot.
The pilot suspected Borodins of being under the influence and boarded the ship at Balmerino to guide it under the bridges.
He immediately thought the captain was drunk and alerted Dundee Port Authority, who contacted the police.
They boarded the ship and found him in his bunk asleep, heavily under the influence of alcohol. They woke him and, with his breath smelling strongly of alcohol, he staggered about and was incoherent.
Borodins told police: “I arrived at the port sober and had a drink at the port.”
Sheriff Alastair Brown told Borodins he had committed a very serious offence and there was the potential to do serious damage and to put lives at risk.
The chances of the Frifjord running aground, colliding with the Tay rail or road bridges or other river traffic, or of causing injury or endangering the lives of his crew and others were very high.
The possibility of causing environmental damage to the Tay, with the associated costs to Scotland’s economy, was also very high.
The use of pilots is not compulsory for ships arriving and embarking from Perth harbour but is is unusual for a vessel to leave the port without a pilot.
Perth and Kinross Council, which runs the harbour, was asked if any check was made on the condition of the captain before his ship left on July 28, if a pilot was on board the Frifjord and, if so, did he think the captain was fit to be in charge of the ship?
A council spokeswoman said: “We do not comment on individual circumstances.”
Mr Wishart said: “It is clearly unacceptable for someone to be in charge of a ship while intoxicated and the sheriff’s comments clearly outline the sort of appalling consequences there could have been.
“The individual concerned has rightly been convicted and it is he who must take responsibility for his own actions and decisions. There are, however, questions raised by this incident which must be answered to ensure that everything that can be done is being done, to avoid such a situation arising again.”