A container ship's master has admitted being more than two-and-a-half times the legal limit for alcohol while in charge of a vessel at a Suffolk port, a court heard.

Zbigniew Chowaniec was arrested at the Port of Felixstowe on Monday after being found with 93 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35 micrograms of alcohol.

On Tuesday, he appeared before Suffolk Magistrates' Court and pleaded guilty to being over the legal limit while in charge of the MSC Roshney V cargo ship.

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The Liberia-flagged boat docked at Felixstowe at 6.24am on Monday and subsequently left the port at 11.17am on Tuesday, headed for Canakkale in north-west Turkey.

Prior to arriving at Felixstowe, the ship, which is 294m in length with a 32m beam, had spent four days at Antwerp in Belgium.

As of 5pm on Tuesday, the vessel, which has a gross tonnage of 55,487, was positioned in the English Channel.

Ipswich Star: The MSC Roshney V was visiting the Port of Felixstowe when the ship's master was arrestedThe MSC Roshney V was visiting the Port of Felixstowe when the ship's master was arrested (Image: Paul Geater)The EADT understands that Chowaniec was arrested after a pilot became suspicious that he was over the limit for alcohol after boarding the MSC Roshney V to guide it into port.

The pilots travel out by boat to meet incoming ships and guide them safely into port and in this case the pilot had travelled out from Harwich to meet the Roshney.

Subsequently, the pilot notified the port authorities of his suspicions and the port police attended once the vessel had docked to arrest the master and hand him over to Suffolk police.

During his court appearance, Chowaniec, who comes from Tarnobrzeg in Poland, was granted conditional bail to appear at Ipswich Crown Court for sentencing on February 12.

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