Danish navy finds drunk captain asleep on drifting ship

The Danish navy rushed a helicopter to intercept an 82-meter cargo ship after it was spotted zigzagging strangely in the Baltic Sea, maritime authorities said on Friday.

The Danica Hav was heading to Luebeck, Germany from Sweden overnight Thursday to Friday when it was spotted adrift in the Great Belt strait that separates Denmark's two main islands, navy spokesman Kenneth Nielsen told AFP.

"We couldn't get contact with the ship," he said.

A helicopter was flown to the vessel and navymen found the Russian captain sleeping deeply at the helm of the ship with a strong smell of alcohol wafting around him, the spokesman said.

The captain was flown to the Roskilde police station where a blood test, taken eight hours after the arrest, showed 2.18 grammes of alcohol per litre.

A judge in Holbaek ordered the captain be kept in custody for breaking maritime security law until a hearing on March 13.

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