Captain Lee has weighed in on the “embarrassing” forged document fiasco that recently played out on Below Deck Med, and he claims Captain Sandy’s to blame.
Below Deck Mediterranean, season 8 has kicked off with a drama-packed premiere that has already seen one crewmember removed from the vessel.
Bosun Ruan Irving was called out over the authenticity of his certification documents after Captain Sandy discovered the paperwork he had supplied her was labeled “not originals.”
Moreso, when scanned the documents they showed another person’s photo — Ruan explaining he had been the victim of a scam. But doubt had already been cast on his qualifications and pertaining to maritime law, Sandy informed Ruan he would need to leave the boat.
Now, Captain Lee has chimed in with his thoughts on the whirlwind fiasco during an episode of his Salty With Captain Lee podcast.
Captain Lee Rosbach calls out Captain Sandy Yawn over Ruan Irving's document drama on the Below Deck Med Season 8 premierehttps://t.co/64eKa06Qoz
— Monsters and Critics (@monstersandcrit) October 5, 2023
Explaining why it was so important that Ruan’s documents could be verified, Lee said, “When you pull into a foreign port as a captain you are subject to flag state inspection… They can come on board at any time and go through the whole vessel.”
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According to Lee, any issue with documentation should have been caught earlier on and was Sandy’s responsibility as the captain.
“Why didn’t [Sandy] catch that when looking at his credentials? I have no idea,” Lee told his podcast cohost, Sam DeCavalcanti. “I am looking at everyone’s credentials and I am scrutinizing anyone that gets on my boat. I am responsible and I take that seriously.”
Nonetheless, Lee stated he didn’t think Sandy had missed anything intentionally, “It is the captain’s responsibility. To me, it would be so embarrassing to hand over documents that I hadn’t examined first. Do I think she was trying to pull a slick one? No.”
Describing the incident as a “lesson well learned,” Lee highlighted the importance of ensuring these matters were checked over properly; “Port State Authority don’t give a s*** [if you are filming a show]. That is not putting money in their pocket. They don’t care.”
Ruan has since addressed some of his controversies on Below Deck in a lengthy Instagram post. Read all the latest entertainment news on our page here.