The consumption of alcohol may be prohibited on board for the flight crew. An ordinance published in the Official Journal sets new blood alcohol limits.
“Fifteen sailors on the dead man’s chest / Hop là ho! a bottle of rum ”. The tune is famous but soon will no longer have to be sung on a ship. The government is firmly committed to reducing alcoholism at sea. According to recent work, 12% of French sailors have problematic drinking on board. An order issued this month in Official newspaper introduces new provisions, including a legal blood alcohol limit for “seafarers”.
The new regulations concern personnel working on French professional vessels, but also “vessels flying the flag other than French sailing on French territorial waters”.
0.50g / L
It stipulates that the introduction of alcoholic beverages on board a ship is now prohibited, unless it is intended for passengers exclusively, or if the captain gives permission to his crew. The members of the flight crew can possibly carry their purchases of alcohol, but then, “the captain can impose that they be kept in closed rooms and according to modalities which he defines”, specifies the prescription.
As for the consumption of alcoholic beverages by the crew, the shipowner may demand that it be prohibited if he considers that it “is likely to endanger the safety and the physical and mental health of the workers” and the safety of the worker. navigation.
The possible authorization to consume alcohol will be accompanied by strong restrictions for the crew, like those found for motorists on the roads. The ordinance thus sets legal blood alcohol limits on board: 0.50 grams / liter of blood or 0.25 milligrams / liter of exhaled air.
2 years in prison, € 4,500 fine
Blood alcohol tests may therefore take place; ships must be equipped with a poster informing seafarers of this development. These checks must be carried out using an approved breathalyzer, at the dock or at anchor, at the request of the shipowner, the captain or the officer in charge of his deputy, specifies the text.
The shipowner bears the costs related to the purchase and maintenance of breathalyzers on board ships, as well as to “the practical and legal training in their use for the captain and the officer in charge of his replacement ”.
“Even in the absence of any obvious sign of drunkenness, the fact for the captain, the watchman or any person exercising the responsibility of the operation of a ship, the chief engineer, any person ensuring the visual and auditory watch or the pilot, to be, in the performance of his duties, under the influence of an alcoholic state characterized by an alcohol concentration in the blood equal to or greater than 0.50 grams per liter or by a concentration of ‘alcohol in the exhaled air equal to or greater than 0.25 milligrams per liter is punishable by two years’ imprisonment and a fine of € 4,500 ”. Finally, a refusal of alcohol control, the seafarer is exposed to an immediate temporary suspension of his right to exercise his profession.
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