Russian captain charged with manslaughter over deadly US oil tanker crash in North Sea

Vladimir Motin, 59, the Russian captain of container ship Solong which crashed into a US oil tanker on Monday, has been charged with gross negligence manslaughter, Humberside Police said

A Russian captain of the container ship which crashed into a US oil tanker in the North Sea has been charged over the death of a crew member who is missing and presumed dead.

The Solong’s master Vladimir Motin, 59, of Primorsky, St Petersburg, in Russia, will appear at Hull Magistrates’ Court on Saturday charged with gross negligence manslaughter, Humberside Police said.

A statement from the force said: “An investigation by Humberside Police supported by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) into the collision between a tanker and a cargo vessel in the North Sea, off the coast of East Yorkshire, has resulted in a man being charged.

“The captain of the Solong vessel, Vladimir Motin, 59 years old, of Primorsky, St Petersburg, Russia, has been charged with gross negligence manslaughter and been remanded in police custody to appear at Hull Magistrates’ Court tomorrow.

“On Monday, 10 March, Humberside Police received a report at around 11am that a collision had occurred between the two vessels, resulting in one crew member being reported missing. Extensive searches were carried out by HM Coastguard to locate the missing crew member, now presumed deceased. 

"The family are being supported by specialist trained officers and our thoughts remain with them at this difficult time.” Thirty-six people from both vessels made it ashore but one member of the crew of the Solong remains unaccounted for and is presumed dead.

The Stena Immaculate is still at anchor at the point where the collision happened, which is about 12 miles off the East Yorkshire coast, near Withernsea. The Solong drifted south of this location, to a point where it could be seen off the Lincolnshire coast.

Earlier today, chief coastguard Paddy O’Callaghan said the vessels are “stable” and salvors have boarded them both to continue damage assessments. He said: “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. 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.”

Mr O’Callaghan said: “The UK Health Security Agency is also assisting in the response, and continues to advise that any public health risk on shore is deemed to be very low. The UKSHA will keep risk assessments under continual review as further information becomes available.”

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said on Thursday the situation was “reasonably contained”. Pressed on calls for a Cobra meeting to assess the potential environmental damage, he said: “We are absolutely monitoring this 24/7 and I’ve got teams doing that and assuring me of what’s going on. At the moment, the situation is reasonably contained. And, obviously, we will do whatever is necessary.”

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB), which will lead the safety probe into the incident, has said that the Solong “altered course” at about 1.30am on Monday, as it passed to the east of Longstone lighthouse, on to “a heading of approximately 150 degrees”, which is a south-east direction.

The crash happened eight hours and 17 minutes later. The ship was travelling at about 16.4 knots, the MAIB added, the equivalent land speed for which is 18.9mph. The Solong frequently travelled between Grangemouth in Scotland and Rotterdam and regularly used the route it took on the day of the collision, the statement added.