Russian captain ‘did nothing’ to avoid US tanker crash, UK prosecutors tell trial
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Smoke rising from damaged containers on the deck of the Solong cargo ship, off the UK coast, in March 2025, after it collided a tanker carrying aviation fuel.
PHOTO: AFP
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- In 2025, the container ship *Solong*, captained by Vladimir Motin, crashed into the anchored tanker *Stena Immaculate* off Britain's east coast.
- Captain Motin is on trial for gross negligence manslaughter after crew member Mark Pernia, 38, a Filipino national, died in the collision.
- Prosecutor Tom Little stated that Motin "did nothing, absolutely nothing, to avoid the collision," which killed Pernia and could have been avoided.
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LONDON - The captain of a container ship that crashed into a US tanker off Britain’s east coast in 2025 did “absolutely nothing” to prevent an avoidable and fatal collision, British prosecutors said on Jan 13 as his trial over a crew member’s death began.
Russian national Vladimir Motin, 59, was captain of the Portuguese-flagged Solong that hit the Stena Immaculate tanker,
He was charged four days later with causing the death
He has pleaded not guilty to one count of gross negligence manslaughter and is on trial at London’s Old Bailey court, where prosecutor Tom Little said Mr Pernia’s death was “entirely avoidable”.
“He would still be alive if it was not for the grossly negligent conduct of the man in the dock,” Mr Little told jurors.
He said the Solong was on a collision course with the Stena Immaculate, which was carrying “very large quantities of aviation fuel”,
Mr Little told the court that Motin owed Mr Pernia a duty of care as the Solong’s captain and as he was “on sole watch duty on the bridge” before the fatal crash.
“Ultimately, he did nothing, absolutely nothing, to avoid the collision,” Mr Little added. REUTERS
