Overview
This dossier contains confidential records for Alejandro Rojas.
Material is provisional, cross-referenced from recovered files, protected records, and field notes.
COT / MI5 Case File
Restricted
Eyes Only
Maritime Evidence Dossier
Alejandro Rojas
Subject: Alejandro Rojas
FORMAL SAFETY INTERVIEW RECORD
SUBJECT: Alejandro Rojas
CLASSIFICATION: OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE // SAFETY INVESTIGATION
REFERENCE: CONTROLLED COPY // COT/MARINE/2035/CTC049
Document control
CASE REFERENCE: COT/MARINE/2035/CTC049
SUBJECT: Alejandro Rojas
CENTRAL RECORD: COTD5B7AD073C072
RANK / APPOINTMENT: First Mate / Chief Mate
ORGANISATION: Merchant maritime service
VESSEL / POSTING: MS Orion Star
DATE OF BIRTH: 1996-05-05
PLACE / NATIONALITY: Unknown, Unknown, Not established; Spanish-language heritage implied by name
INTERVIEW STATUS: Witness / account holder
LOCATION: Secure interview suite — location withheld
DATE: 19 September 2035
LEAD AUTHORITY: Marine Accident Investigation Branch
RECORDING MEDIA: Two sealed digital masters and one independent evidential hash
DISTRIBUTION: Named recipients only. No automated onward distribution.
NOTE: Handling notice. This document contains operational, personal and evidential material. It may be read only by a person with both the required clearance and a recorded need to know. Extraction of images, transcript segments or metadata creates a new controlled copy.
Identity and visual evidence control
VISUAL ASSET STATUS: Passport image: attached; dossier image frames available: 3; surveillance frames available: 1; identity match: matched by subject/asset map.
Reason for interview or reconstruction
This record concerns the subject's knowledge of container 72-B, Orion Star, AIS, GPS; and associated decisions, communications and evidence handling. The scope of this record is confined to the matters set out above and to evidence formally introduced during the session.
Preliminary investigator note
The subject completed identity verification but challenged the assumption that a valid administrative record necessarily described the physical event.
Recorded interview transcript
LEAD INSPECTOR: State your full name for the record.
ALEJANDRO ROJAS: Alejandro Rojas
LEAD INSPECTOR: Do you understand the status of this interview and the limits placed on distribution?
ALEJANDRO ROJAS: Yes. I also understand that a classification marking is a handling instruction, not proof of integrity.
LEAD INSPECTOR: Have you been offered the representation, legal advice or staff support applicable to this procedure?
ALEJANDRO ROJAS: Yes. I am proceeding under the conditions already stated.
DOCUMENTARY EXHIBIT D-01 Retained extract: "Captain?" First Mate Alejandro Rojas stood in the doorway of Zhang’s quarters, his brow furrowed. Associated persons: Wei Zhang Relevant systems or locations: container 72-B
LEAD INSPECTOR: Do you accept that this extract accurately records an event in which you were involved?
ALEJANDRO ROJAS: I accept the event. I do not accept the conclusion you have attached to it. Wei Zhang can confirm the sequence, but not necessarily the interpretation.
LEAD INSPECTOR: What did you understand at that moment, before later analysis supplied a larger explanation?
ALEJANDRO ROJAS: That is the order as I remember it. The machinery and the later summary are separate questions. Check container 72-B against the unprocessed record before you accept the later label.
DOCUMENTARY EXHIBIT D-02 Retained extract: It’s like the system just… blinked." "Another glitch," muttered First Mate Alejandro Rojas from his station. Associated persons: Wei Zhang, Meera Khanna Relevant systems or locations: Orion Star, AIS, GPS, bridge
LEAD INSPECTOR: Do you accept that this extract accurately records an event in which you were involved?
ALEJANDRO ROJAS: You are asking for certainty that did not exist on the deck. I can give you the decision and the reason for it. If the original is no longer available, that absence should remain part of your finding.
LEAD INSPECTOR: Who else was physically present and capable of confirming your account without relying on the same electronic record?
ALEJANDRO ROJAS: At the time I acted on what the bridge could physically verify, not on what a later system said I ought to have known. The missing interval matters more than the wording placed around it afterwards.
LEAD INSPECTOR: Are you saying the official record is wrong?
ALEJANDRO ROJAS: I am saying it may be accurate about the event and wrong about the cause.
DOCUMENTARY EXHIBIT D-03 Retained extract: No reliance on automated systems." Rojas nodded and set to work. Associated persons: Wei Zhang Relevant systems or locations: MS Orion Star, Orion Star, AIS, GPS, bridge
LEAD INSPECTOR: Do you accept that this extract accurately records an event in which you were involved?
ALEJANDRO ROJAS: At the time I acted on what the bridge could physically verify, not on what a later system said I ought to have known. The missing interval matters more than the wording placed around it afterwards.
LEAD INSPECTOR: Why was the matter not escalated through the ordinary reporting route?
ALEJANDRO ROJAS: I accept the event. I do not accept the conclusion you have attached to it. If the original is no longer available, that absence should remain part of your finding.
DOCUMENTARY EXHIBIT D-04 Retained extract: "Rojas to Captain Zhang." Zhang grabbed the receiver. Associated persons: Wei Zhang, Leon Beltran Relevant systems or locations: bridge
LEAD INSPECTOR: Do you accept that this extract accurately records an event in which you were involved?
ALEJANDRO ROJAS: You are asking for certainty that did not exist on the deck. I can give you the decision and the reason for it. The missing interval matters more than the wording placed around it afterwards.
LEAD INSPECTOR: What part of the retained record is incomplete or misleading?
ALEJANDRO ROJAS: I accept the event. I do not accept the conclusion you have attached to it. Check bridge against the unprocessed record before you accept the later label.
LEAD INSPECTOR: Are you saying the official record is wrong?
ALEJANDRO ROJAS: I am saying the record should remain evidence, not become an alibi for the system that produced it.
DOCUMENTARY EXHIBIT D-05 Retained extract: Rojas moved ahead, pulling the door open fully. Associated persons: Wei Zhang Relevant systems or locations: MS Orion Star, Orion Star
LEAD INSPECTOR: Do you accept that this extract accurately records an event in which you were involved?
ALEJANDRO ROJAS: You are asking for certainty that did not exist on the deck. I can give you the decision and the reason for it. Check MS Orion Star against the unprocessed record before you accept the later label.
LEAD INSPECTOR: Which physical record should be examined before this account is treated as settled?
ALEJANDRO ROJAS: You are asking for certainty that did not exist on the deck. I can give you the decision and the reason for it. If the original is no longer available, that absence should remain part of your finding.
DOCUMENTARY EXHIBIT D-06 Retained extract: "Shit," muttered Alejandro Rojas, his Chief Mate. Associated persons: Wei Zhang, Jack — Argus duty officer Relevant systems or locations: MV Argus, Orion Star, Argus, bridge, black box
LEAD INSPECTOR: Do you accept that this extract accurately records an event in which you were involved?
ALEJANDRO ROJAS: I accept the event. I do not accept the conclusion you have attached to it. I will not improve my memory to make the chronology easier.
LEAD INSPECTOR: Did anyone instruct you to describe the incident differently afterwards?
ALEJANDRO ROJAS: I accept the event. I do not accept the conclusion you have attached to it. Check MV Argus against the unprocessed record before you accept the later label.
LEAD INSPECTOR: Are you saying the official record is wrong?
ALEJANDRO ROJAS: I am saying the record should remain evidence, not become an alibi for the system that produced it.
DOCUMENTARY EXHIBIT D-07 Retained extract: Rojas was clutching his arm, likely broken. Associated persons: Wei Zhang, Leon Beltran Relevant systems or locations: Orion Star, bridge
LEAD INSPECTOR: Do you accept that this extract accurately records an event in which you were involved?
ALEJANDRO ROJAS: At the time I acted on what the bridge could physically verify, not on what a later system said I ought to have known. Check Orion Star against the unprocessed record before you accept the later label.
LEAD INSPECTOR: What did you understand at that moment, before later analysis supplied a larger explanation?
ALEJANDRO ROJAS: You are asking for certainty that did not exist on the deck. I can give you the decision and the reason for it. Wei Zhang can confirm the sequence, but not necessarily the interpretation.
DOCUMENTARY EXHIBIT D-08 Retained extract: Zhang grabbed Rojas and threw him toward the last remaining lifeboat. Associated persons: Wei Zhang, Leon Beltran Relevant systems or locations: Orion Star
LEAD INSPECTOR: Do you accept that this extract accurately records an event in which you were involved?
ALEJANDRO ROJAS: That is the order as I remember it. The machinery and the later summary are separate questions. If the original is no longer available, that absence should remain part of your finding.
LEAD INSPECTOR: Who else was physically present and capable of confirming your account without relying on the same electronic record?
ALEJANDRO ROJAS: You are asking for certainty that did not exist on the deck. I can give you the decision and the reason for it. Wei Zhang can confirm the sequence, but not necessarily the interpretation.
LEAD INSPECTOR: Are you saying the official record is wrong?
ALEJANDRO ROJAS: I am saying two honest records can disagree when they were generated from the same compromised source.
[Exhibit S-01 introduced. Subject permitted to inspect the displayed copy without handling the source medium.]
LEAD INSPECTOR: Do you identify the person shown as yourself?
ALEJANDRO ROJAS: I identify myself in the frame. I cannot authenticate the date from the crop alone.
LEAD INSPECTOR: Can you establish the location or date from anything visible in the frame?
ALEJANDRO ROJAS: The location is supportable from the surroundings. The purpose you are implying is not.
LEAD INSPECTOR: Were you aware that the image was being made?
ALEJANDRO ROJAS: I was not aware of the camera at the time shown.
LEAD INSPECTOR: Who had advance knowledge of your presence at that location?
ALEJANDRO ROJAS: That depends on whether the source is an official system, a copied feed or a separate observer.
LEAD INSPECTOR: What does this image prove, and what does it not prove?
ALEJANDRO ROJAS: Preserve the frames before and after it. A single image is a fact about light, not a complete account of conduct.
[Exhibit S-02 introduced. Subject permitted to inspect the displayed copy without handling the source medium.]
LEAD INSPECTOR: Do you identify the person shown as yourself?
ALEJANDRO ROJAS: I identify myself in the frame. I cannot authenticate the date from the crop alone.
LEAD INSPECTOR: Can you establish the location or date from anything visible in the frame?
ALEJANDRO ROJAS: The location is supportable from the surroundings. The purpose you are implying is not.
LEAD INSPECTOR: Were you aware that the image was being made?
ALEJANDRO ROJAS: I was not aware of the camera at the time shown.
LEAD INSPECTOR: Who had advance knowledge of your presence at that location?
ALEJANDRO ROJAS: That depends on whether the source is an official system, a copied feed or a separate observer.
LEAD INSPECTOR: What does this image prove, and what does it not prove?
ALEJANDRO ROJAS: Preserve the frames before and after it. A single image is a fact about light, not a complete account of conduct.
[Exhibit S-03 introduced. Subject permitted to inspect the displayed copy without handling the source medium.]
LEAD INSPECTOR: Do you identify the person shown as yourself?
ALEJANDRO ROJAS: I identify myself in the frame. I cannot authenticate the date from the crop alone.
LEAD INSPECTOR: Can you establish the location or date from anything visible in the frame?
ALEJANDRO ROJAS: The location is supportable from the surroundings. The purpose you are implying is not.
LEAD INSPECTOR: Were you aware that the image was being made?
ALEJANDRO ROJAS: I was not aware of the camera at the time shown.
LEAD INSPECTOR: Who had advance knowledge of your presence at that location?
ALEJANDRO ROJAS: That depends on whether the source is an official system, a copied feed or a separate observer.
LEAD INSPECTOR: What does this image prove, and what does it not prove?
ALEJANDRO ROJAS: Preserve the frames before and after it. A single image is a fact about light, not a complete account of conduct.
LEAD INSPECTOR: Is there any material fact you have withheld because you consider this recording or its distribution unsafe?
ALEJANDRO ROJAS: I have withheld attribution, not the physical event.
LEAD INSPECTOR: What is the single next action this investigation should take?
ALEJANDRO ROJAS: Return to the original physical record and identify every hand that altered its custody.
LEAD INSPECTOR: Do you wish to add or correct anything before the recording is suspended?
ALEJANDRO ROJAS: No correction. Only this: an accepted record is not necessarily a true one.
[Recording suspended. Source media sealed. Any resumed session requires a new opening declaration and exhibit schedule.]
Supplemental visual evidence exhibits
Confidential investigator assessment
The subject's account conflicts with at least one administrative record but not necessarily with the underlying physical evidence. The conflict is an investigative lead, not a concluded finding.
Actions and inconsistencies outstanding
- Obtain or compare the independent account of Wei Zhang; do not disclose this transcript before their unaided account is fixed.
- Obtain or compare the independent account of Leon Beltran; do not disclose this transcript before their unaided account is fixed.
- Obtain or compare the independent account of Meera Khanna; do not disclose this transcript before their unaided account is fixed.
- Preserve and independently verify the original record associated with Orion Star, including audit history and physical custody.
- Preserve and independently verify the original record associated with bridge, including audit history and physical custody.
- Preserve and independently verify the original record associated with AIS, including audit history and physical custody.
NOTE: Finding limit. Nothing in this record establishes guilt, operational direction or final causation unless expressly stated as a supported finding. A valid credential, image or system entry proves only what that item can independently support.
LEAD INSPECTOR — sealed electronic signature held separately
Evidence custodian — receipt and hash recorded
END OF CONTROLLED RECORD — CTC-049