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The Russian captain of one of the vessels involved in Monday’s fatal collision between a container ship and an oil tanker off the East Yorkshire coast appeared in court on Saturday, charged with gross negligence manslaughter.
The captain of the Portugal-flagged Solong, who is from Primorsky near St Petersburg, was charged on Friday by Humberside police following the collision, which left one of his vessel’s crew members missing, presumed dead.
59-year-old Vladimir Motin, who does not have a fixed address in the UK, was remanded in custody after being told through a translator at Hull Magistrates Court that the case would be sent to London’s Central Criminal Court.
Motin did not enter a plea.
Prosecutor Amelia Katz told the court that the Solong would have hit the US-flagged Stena Immaculate tanker at a speed of about 15 knots. The tanker was at anchor at the time of the collision.
There were no communication attempts from the Solong to warn the Stena Immaculate of the crash, Katz said.
She said 38-year-old Filipino national Mark Angelo Pernia, the Solong crew member presumed dead, was working on the deck of the ship at the time of the collision, near where an explosion took place.
The Solong’s other 13 crew members, as well as the 23 mariners on board the Stena Immaculate, were returned safely to shore, authorities have said.
Monday’s incident started a fierce fire in the Stena Immaculate’s cargo of 220,000 barrels of jet fuel, which it was carrying on behalf of the US military. The collision was one of the worst such incidents in recent years off the British coast.
On Friday, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said that, while there was still some fire visible on the Solong, it was now largely contained.
Initial concerns that the incident might create a significant pollution problem have so far not been fulfilled.
The MCA said on Friday: “Regular aerial surveillance flights continue to monitor the vessels and confirm that there continues to be no cause for concern from pollution from either the Stena Immaculate or from the Solong.”
The Solong is owned by German company Ernst Russ, which said on Friday that it would be inappropriate to comment on an ongoing police investigation.
It added: “We are fully supporting the crew and assisting the investigation into the incident.”
