The captain of a stranded ship found himself in court after drinking too much whisky at an on-board barbecue.

The crew of the rusting Southern Star has been stuck in Chatham Docks for more than a month after the vessel was detained because of an unpaid fuel invoice.

The huge container ship, which can been seen from Pier Road, was towed to the docks after developing engine trouble. It has since been impounded by the Admiralty Court.

The crew has not been paid for several months and have been relying on help from a seafaring charity. Now the captain has appeared in court charged with being drunk in charge of a ship after sailors let off a flare which drew the attention of the police.

Despite not being able to be at the helm of the vessel for the past month and a half, Gennardy Lupey, found himself in the dock at Medway Magistrates’ Court after a boozy barbecue.

Prosecutor James Nichols told the court police patrols were sent to the docks at about 10pm Saturday, May 7, after a flare was set off from the ship.

"The police officer asked me to explain. I was not so sober" - Gennardy Lupey

He said: “When officers spoke to the Lupey about what happened, they said his speech was slurred and he appeared to have been drinking.”

Lupey, who has never been in trouble with the law either in Britain or in other countries, told the court he had been sleeping in his cabin when the flare was set off as a result of high jinx by some of his crew members who had organised a barbecue to celebrate Victory Day.

Victory Day is a national holiday in Russia and marks the capitulation of Nazi Germany to the Soviet Union in the Second World War.

Defending himself, Lupey, who pleaded guilty to the charge, said he did not see the flare being let off as he had retired to his cabin at 9pm after several glasses of whisky.

The court heard he had consumed so much alcohol that the proportion of it in his breath was 91 microgrammes in 100 millilitres of breath.

He added: “The police officer asked me to explain. I was not so sober.

“I was not a witness of the rockets, and at the police station I had to make a statement about my degree of drunkenness. I did not operate the vessel.”

The court heard Lupey, who is originally from Estonia, was penniless as he and his crew had not been paid by their company for several months.

The bench decided on an unusual step of placing the captain on a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered him to pay a victim surcharge of just £15. He was not ordered to pay any costs.

The crew has been helped out by the seafaring charity Apostleship of the Sea (AoS) and given assistance from the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF).

AoS ship visitor Bob Bushnell has been providing the Russian crew with food, advice, and phone cards so they can communicate with their families back home. Mr Bushnell and his AoS team have been also buying essential provisions, as the ship’s supplies have reached low levels.

He said: "They like chocolate and sweets and the phone cards so they can talk to their families and are very grateful for the help they receive.

"They have received some money from their employer now so hopefully they will be able to go home very soon."

After the court case, Lupey told KentOnline's sister paper the Medway Messenger he and his crew were hoping to be repatriated back to their own countries soon, as their employer was this week sending over money they are owed. Some of his crew have already been repatriated, he said the rest just want to go home.

He added: "We just want to go home now. We hope it will be soon."

It is believed the ship will now be sent to the scrap yard.