Two Australian car ferry operators caught drunk on the job

May 19, 2006

Two men operating a car transport ferry at Berowra Waters, New South Wales, Australia, North of Sydney have been charged with operating a vessel with high range prescribed concentration of alcohol (PCA) according to police. The ferry crosses Berowra Creek between Bay Road and Berowra Waters Road, Berowra Waters and operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Police met the ferry at its eastern terminal on Thursday at 7 p.m. AEST after receiving a report from a passenger that the boom operator appeared to be drunk. Upon the ferry's arrival, police spoke with the boom operator and conducted an on-the-spot breath test. The man returned a positive blood-alcohol reading.

Police then spoke with the ferry's captain about his boom operator. The captain was also subjected to a breath test, which returned positive.

The pair was taken to Hornsby police station where they were required to undergo a further breath test. The test at the station returned a blood-alcohol reading of 0.17 for the boom operator and 0.15 for the captain. Both were more than seven times the legal limit of 0.02 for passenger vessels.

Even though the boom operator was not controlling the ferry, a person who is responsible for observing the safety of passengers is taken to have been operating the vessel under NSW law.

The pair will appear in Hornsby Local Court on a date to be set.