Court sanctions crew asleep at helm of ship that crashed into Corsica

The shift supervisor of a cargo ship that ran aground in a pristine marine reserve near the French Mediterranean island of Corsica last year was given a suspended sentence Friday for sleeping on the job.

The 90-metre (295-foot) Rhodanus, transporting 2,650 tonnes of steel coils, failed to heed repeated calls from traffic controllers over a period of 50 minutes to change course, and smashed into the Bonifacio Strait nature reserve in the early morning hours.

Even a helicopter was sent out to raise the alarm, to no avail.

"I sat down on the couch, made a coffee, and fell asleep. The sound of a crash woke me up," the 44-year-old shift supervisor told investigators after the accident last October.

There were no injuries nor pollution as a result of the crash.

The supervisor and the sailor at the helm, both Russians, were given six-month suspended sentences Friday by a court in Marseille in southern France, as well as a fine of 3,000 euros (USD 3,300) each.

They were also prohibited from sailing in French waters for three years.

Neither were present in court.

Prosecutor Franck Lagier pointed out a series of "failings and negligence" on board the vessel he said was operating like a "ghost ship without a commander."