British police have charged the Russian captain of a cargo ship that crashed into a United States fuel tanker in the North Sea this week with manslaughter and gross negligence over the death of a crew member.
Vladimir Motin, 59, from Primorsky in Saint Petersburg, Russia, did not apply for bail when he appeared at Hull Magistrates Court on Saturday and was remanded in police custody.
On Monday, the Portuguese-flagged Solong container vessel, of which Motin was the captain, hit the Stena Immaculate tanker at full speed while it was anchored off the coast of Hull in northeastern England. The Stena Immaculate was carrying US military jet fuel.
During the crash, which caused massive fires and explosions, one of the Solong’s crew members, 38-year-old Filipino national Mark Angelo Pernia, went missing and is now “presumed” dead.
“Extensive searches were carried out by HM Coastguard to locate the missing crew member, now presumed deceased,” Humberside police said in a statement.
“The family are being supported by specialist trained officers and our thoughts remain with them at this difficult time,” it added.
The remaining 36 crew members from both vessels survived the incident and were brought to shore.
On Friday, the Russian embassy in London said on its Telegram channel that its diplomats had held a “detailed telephone conversation with the captain of the vessel” on Thursday.
“According to him, he feels well. The Russian citizen has been provided with an interpreter and a lawyer, with whom our employees also maintain constant contact,” the embassy wrote, adding that it was in “close contact with the British competent authorities.”
The coastguard said on Thursday that salvage companies boarded the two vessels to carry out initial damage assessments, as the Stena Immaculate remains anchored at the point of the crash and the Solong drifted south of the site.
In an update on Friday, chief coastguard Paddy O’Callaghan said the vessels were “stable”.
“There are now only small periodic pockets of fire on the Solong, which are not causing undue concern. Specialist tugs with firefighting capability remain at both vessels’ locations,” O’Callaghan said adding that there continues to be “no cause for concern” of pollution from the crash.
While the British government has ruled out foul play in the crash, investigators are still examining its causes.
Moreover, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the situation was “reasonably contained” on Thursday.
