‘Death ship’ captain tried to quash dissent, inquest hears

The Sydney inquest into the mysterious series of deaths onboard the Japanese bulker Sage Sagittarius in 2012 has heard allegations that the then master of the ship bullied crewmembers to hush up the scandal.

Captain Venancio Salas, who was in charge of the vessel, dubbed the ‘death ship’ in local media, at the time of the three deaths in six weeks, wrote “damning” reviews of crewmembers he felt were behind a plot to report the ship to Australian authorities.

The inquest head last year how Salas was prone to drinking, gun-toting and bullying others onboard.

On the evaluation forms for at least four crewmembers, Salas wrote that they put the company, captain and ship itself at risk and that they should not be rehired by the company.

The inquest continues.