Captain Charged with Manslaughter After Container Ship Collision

LONDON, March 15 (Reuters) – The captain of a container ship that crashed into a U.S. tanker earlier this week off Britain’s east coast appeared in an English court on Saturday charged with gross negligence manslaughter.

Russian national Vladimir Motin, 59, was captain of the Portuguese-flagged Solong that hit the Stena Immaculate tanker, carrying military jet fuel, on Monday morning.

Motin, who was charged on Friday evening, appeared at Hull Magistrates’ Court on Saturday over the death of Filipino national and Solong crew member Mark Angelo Pernia, 38.

Prosecutor Amelia Katz said the Solong was traveling at a speed of over 15 knots (27.8 kilometers per hour) when it hit the Stena Immaculate, which had been anchored in the same position from Sunday evening, “over 15 hours before the collision occurred.”

She said Motin was the only person in charge of the Solong at the time of the collision, having taken charge about three hours before the incident.

“For a period of over 40 minutes before the collision, the Solong was on a direct route for impact with the Stena Immaculate, which was anchored and stationary,” Katz said.

The prosecutor added: “There were no communication attempts from the Solong to warn of the impending collision and the Solong did not adjust its course or speed at any point.”

All 23 crew members of the Stena Immaculate and 13 of the 14 crew on the Solong were rescued. “Attempts were made by some of the other crew members on the Solong to locate Mr. Pernia, but they were unable to,” Katz said.

Motin did not make an application for bail and was remanded into custody.

The collision caused a huge explosion and spilled jet fuel into the sea. Initial concerns of an environmental disaster subsided as assessments showed the jet fuel had mostly burned off and there was no sign of other leaks from either ship.

(Reporting by Sam Tobin. Editing by Mark Potter)

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