Immigration police have penalized a trigger-happy sailor who fired a pistol into the air outside a Shanghai nightclub in an apparent act of bravado.

The gun and ammunition were confiscated, while the man was fined 5,000 yuan (US$602) and his shore leave was revoked during his stay in town.

Immigration officers from the Wusong Entry-Exit Inspection Station identified the culprit as the chief mate on a Malta-based ship that docked last month in Shanghai for repairs. Immigration officers declined to reveal his name or nationality, referring to him only by the pseudonym Michad.

Officers said the sailor bought a five-shot revolver in Brazil for US$200 in 2001 and carried it at sea for self-defense.

Police said the shooting incident occurred on October 4 when Michad stopped off at a bar on one of Shanghai's islands.

After a few drinks, he allegedly began boasting about his pistol to a group of skeptical listeners. Officers said he then dragged a waiter outside to prove his claim and fired a shot into the sky. Police arrived at the club after Michad left and recovered a spent shell casing.

Armed with witness descriptions of the shooter, officers focused on one of the four foreign ships under repair at a nearby shipyard. Police boarded the vessel the next day and found the pistol and nine bullets hidden in a drawer in Michad's office.

Authorities said the ship's captain cooperated with the investigation, but he denied any knowledge of his chief mate's weaponry or his actions at the nightclub.

(Shanghai Daily November 3, 2004)