Former police officer kills two crew members on ship and commits suicide before trial
Carlos Eugenio Lima shot dead the captain and first officer of the tanker Ayane in 2021. He took his own life at La Plata Unit 9 on 29 September 2026, weeks before the trial was due to begin.
"Crazy" Lima: former police officer, double murderer and a trial that never happened
At 23:28 on 22 October 2021, Carlos Eugenio Lima picked up a ship-to-shore radio on the oil tanker Ayane and called the Río de la Plata Traffic Control Centre of the Naval Prefect. His message was direct: "The captain and the first officer are dead, I killed them. And I'm going to turn myself in, so I want you to send a coastguard vessel to arrest me. That's it, it's that simple." Minutes earlier he had shot at captain Alejandro Daniel García and first officer Juan Alfonso Pegasano whilst the ship was navigating the Río de la Plata.
According to reports from 0221.com.ar, after relaying his confession by radio, Lima entered the cargo console area. The rest of the crew took the opportunity to shut the door and detain him until Naval Prefect officers arrived.
Nearly five years later, on Tuesday 29 September 2026, Lima took his own life at La Plata Unit 9. There was just over a month remaining before the oral trial was due to begin.
Background: expelled from Buenos Aires police force and prior conviction
Lima was 52 years old when he committed the murders and had a serious criminal history. In 2007 he was expelled from the Buenos Aires Provincial Police. A year later, he had an argument with his neighbour Gustavo Alfredo Alfano, who reproached him for damaging the pavement in front of his house. Lima took a 9 millimetre calibre pistol and shot him six times: the bullets struck one leg, his spine, his abdomen and one arm. Alfano survived thanks to intervention by Gonnet San Roque Hospital.
Following that attack, Lima barricaded himself in his house and opened fire on the police officers who arrived at the scene. The operation required the intervention of the Falcon Group. After an hour of negotiation, he surrendered. On 1 July 2011, the Oral Criminal Court No. 5 in La Plata sentenced him to seven and a half years imprisonment for "attempted homicide aggravated by the use of firearms". He was released two years later, on 18 January 2013.
During that legal proceeding, a psychological assessment identified difficulties managing his anxiety and described "obsessive" and "rigid" components in his personality. The report warned that his functioning "could become excessive in situations of high emotional tension to adequately control his impulsiveness".
The night of the double murder on the Ayane
Lima worked as third officer of the deck on the oil tanker. In the hours before the attack he had had friction with his superiors. The day before the crime he had argued with first officer Pegasano during a routine inspection by the Argentine Naval Prefect: Lima, responsible for the ship's safety equipment, avoided answering questions from the inspectors and was separated from the procedure.
Second officer Lucas Discenza stated in the court file that the following day Lima "appeared withdrawn during lunch and dinner" and avoided meeting with his colleagues in the mess hall. At 23:20 on 22 October, a fresh altercation between Lima and Pegasano erupted on the Ayane's navigation bridge. According to the testimony of another crew member, "they were responding to each other offensively".
Minutes later, Lima opened fire and killed both officers. Armed, he moved through different sections of the ship and encountered other crew members. To the cook Carlos Banegas, who asked him what he was doing, he replied: "Get away because this isn't about you. Don't try to convince me, go to your cabin". He then locked himself in the cargo console and made the call to the Naval Prefect.
The suicide and the victims' families' reaction
The news of Lima's suicide at Unit 9 had a profound impact on those close to the victims. Rodrigo Velasco, lawyer for the García family, described what had occurred as a "very serious" matter: "A death in a situation that should have been in the custody of the State, so that it could reach a trial for which there was very little time remaining", he noted.
Velasco also emphasised the consequences for families awaiting the oral hearing. "The trial is the end of a criminal process that concludes with a sentence, which is a duty of the State, and we will not have it", he stated. "It is a serious matter and I say that in a way Lima killed his victims again."
The criminal proceeding for the double homicide aboard the Ayane thus remains unresolved: without a sentence, without an oral hearing and without legal response for the families of captain García and first officer Pegasano.
Source: Google News PE — Lima