Russian captain jailed for six years over fatal North Sea crash in which Filipino sailor died

LONDON - A Russian captain was on Feb 5 jailed for six years over the death of a crew member lost at sea when his cargo ship hit an anchored oil tanker in the North Sea.

Vladimir Motin, 59, had been on sole watch duty when his ship, the Solong,

crashed into the Stena Immaculate

anchored just off the coast of Yorkshire, northeastern England, in March 2025.

The collision triggered a huge fire and a major rescue operation.

Motin was an “accident waiting to happen,” Judge Andrew Baker said as he sentenced him at London’s Old Bailey court for the manslaughter by gross negligence of Filipino sailor Mark Angelo Pernia, who had been working in Solong’s bow.

“This was a gross failure to identify the collision risk,” Judge Baker said.

Mr Pernia, 38, who was married with a young child, was lost at sea following the crash. His body has never been recovered.

His wife was pregnant with the couple’s second child at the time of the “wholly avoidable” accident, the judge said.

“The blame for it lies squarely at your hands,” he told Motin, adding that “no sentence can bring Mr Pernia back or remove the great pain or grief for the loss of him”.

Motin’s defence was that he kept a lookout but that he made an error in failing to notify his crew in time and pressed the wrong button when trying to put the ship into manual steering mode, Judge Baker said.

But the judge rejected this account as “not plausible” and criticised him for leading the jury on a “merry dance” during the trial.

“The basic facts of the collision suggest a ship unaware of the risks ahead,” he said.

Motin, who showed no emotion as he was sentenced, did “nothing” while his ship sailed on towards the tanker and this “inaction” showed he was “not aware” of the risk, Judge Baker said.

“So without doubt his negligence to keep watch properly created a serious risk of death.”

‘Emotional breakdown’

The damage caused was “extensive”, could have been much worse and others could “easily” have been injured or died, he added.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, Mr Pernia’s widow, Leacel, said no amount of compensation made up for the “pain” of her loss and the impact on her young family.

“No days will pass by that I will not have emotional breakdown,” she said, in a victim impact statement.

Defence counsel James Leonard also read out a letter from Motin in which he said he felt “shame” over the consequence of his actions and conveyed his condolences to the Pernia family.

He vowed “never to go to sea anymore” because he feels he has “no right” to after failing to take account of the safety of those on board, Mr Leonard added.

Mr Leonard said the experienced captain had a previously “blameless” record.

“This was truly an aberration of his conduct,” he added.

The judge said he saw no evidence of remorse from Motin during the trial but took the letter into account.

A jury earlier this week convicted Motin, from Saint Petersburg, after eight hours of deliberation.

In a statement after the sentencing outside the court, police chief Craig Nicholson of Humberside Police, thanked Mr Pernia’s family for their patience and understanding throughout the “extremely complex and lengthy investigation”. AFP