The sailor was reportedly eight times over the limit, despite the company’s zero tolerance on alcohol policy

A Russian officer on watch when a 423ft cargo ship ran aground at full speed in Scotland had drunk half a litre of rum before taking up his post, an investigation has found.

The Lysblink Seaways vessel was travelling from Belfast to Skogn in Norway with a cargo of paper when it became stuck off the west coast of Scotland near Kilchoan in the Ardnamurchan peninsula on 18 February this year.

The chief officer on watch, a 36-year-old Russian, had consumed half a litre of rum in his cabin before taking up his shift as the sole officer on watch at midnight, but had “become inattentive due to the effects of alcohol consumption”.