A merchant seaman told a jury of his shock when his ship rammed into the back of another boat off the Sussex coast.

Brian D'Esterre Roberts, 39, was officer on watch on board the Dutch Aquamarine at the time of the fatal collision, in which the captain of the other vessel drowned.

The chemical tanker ploughed into the rear of The Ash, a cargo vessel, causing it to sink eight miles off the coast at Hastings in October 2001.

D'Esterre Roberts, of Bally Macus, County Cork, Eire, denies unlawfully killing Wolfgram Gross, 59, at a trial at Lewes Crown Court but admitted neglecting his duty by failing to keep a proper look out.

D'Esterre Roberts told the court he had checked his ship's position to pass The Ash on the port side.

At the moment of the collision he was confident everything was going to plan and was talking to a cadet on the bridge.

He said: "The next thing I felt a boom like a big wave. I looked up and there was The Ash.

"I hit hard to starboard. She went down. I was in total shock. I was completely shattered."

The trial continues.