Russian captain of ship in North Sea crash charged with gross negligence manslaughter

14 March 2025, 16:01 | Updated: 14 March 2025, 21:24

The Russian captain of the Solong container ship involved in the North Sea crash has been charged with gross negligence manslaughter.

Vladimir Motin, 59, of Primorsky, St Petersburg, has been remanded in police custody and is due to appear at Hull Magistrates Court on Saturday, Humberside Police said.

On Monday morning, about 13 miles off the East Yorkshire coast near Withernsea, the Solong sailed into the US-registered oil tanker Stena Immaculate, which was carrying jet fuel for the US Navy.

One member of the Solong crew is believed to be dead. He has been named by the Crown Prosecution Service as 38-year-old Filipino national Mark Angelo Pernia.

Solong 'had five Russians among crew'

Five Russians had been among the crew on board the Solong, Russian state agency TASS quoted the Russian embassy in London as saying, Reuters reported.

In the immediate aftermath of the collision, dozens of people were forced to abandon the vessels as they caught fire.

The coastguard rescued 36 crew members after the alarm was raised at 9.48am on Monday.

The Stena Immaculate, operated by US shipping firm Crowley, was stationary and at anchor while waiting for a berth to become available at the Port of Killingholme, on the River Humber, when it was struck by the smaller Solong, causing huge fires and explosions - the smoke from which was visible from space.

The Solong had been sailing from Grangemouth in Scotland to Rotterdam in the Netherlands at the time.

It was initially feared it was carrying sodium cyanide but the German owner Ernst Russ said four containers on the vessel had previously been carrying the chemical.

All 23 people on board the oil tanker Stena Immaculate were accounted for, along with 13 of the 14 crew members of the Solong.

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Stena Bulk, the owner of the Immaculate, said on Wednesday that the 23 members of its crew were all American and in "good health". Crowley said they were staying in Grimsby and being supported.

The Stena Immaculate is still at anchor at the point where the collision happened.

The Solong drifted south of that location, to a point where it could be seen off the Lincolnshire coast.

Salvage companies boarded the two vessels on Thursday and were carrying out initial damage assessments. Small fires were still being reported on the Solong's top deck, the coastguard said.

Police said extensive lines of inquiry were continuing but it was taking time given the vessels were still at sea and there were a large number of witnesses.

Environmental impact not as severe as initially feared

The Stena Immaculate had been carrying 220,000 barrels of jet fuel in 16 segregated cargo tanks - at least one of which "was ruptured" during the collision, Crowley said.

But it added that the jet fuel spill was having a "limited" impact.

The potential environmental impact seems to be less severe than initially feared.

Most of the spilt jet fuel has evaporated or burned off, Crowley said in an X post. There seems to have been no loss of engine fuel from either vessel and both are expected to remain afloat despite a gaping hole in the side of the Stena Immaculate and earlier fears the Solong would sink.

The Solong, which was drifting, has now been secured by tugs.

(c) Sky News 2025: Russian captain of ship in North Sea crash charged with gross negligence manslaughter