Captain charged over cargo ship smash with oil tanker in North Sea; one crew member dead

A crew member killed after a container ship collided into a US oil tanker has been named as the cargo vessel’s Russian captain has been charged. See the video of how the crash unfolded.

A crew member killed after a container ship collided into a US oil tanker has been named as the cargo vessel’s Russian captain has been charged.

Mark Angelo Pernia, 38, a Filipino national, is now presumed dead after disappearing from the Solong ship after it hit the Stena Immaculate on Monday.

Russian captain Vladimir Motin, 59, who led the Solong, has now been charged with gross negligence manslaughter.

Frank Ferguson, head of the Crown Prosecution Service Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said: “We have authorised Humberside Police to charge a Russian national in relation to a collision involving two vessels in the North Sea off the east coast of England.

“The Portuguese-registered cargo ship, the Solong, collided with the American-registered oil tanker, the Stena Immaculate, just before 10am on Monday, 10 March 2025.

“Filipino national Mark Angelo Pernia, 38, died.”

Humberside Police also confirmed captain Motin will appear in court tomorrow.

Smoke billows from the MV Solong cargo ship in the North Sea, off the Yorkshire coast. Picture: Getty Images

The coastguard said a search has been called off for one missing crew member of the Solong. Picture: Getty Images

A statement 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.”

It also said: “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.”

The news comes after video of the dramatic moment emerged as the Portuguese-flagged Solong ploughed into the anchored Stena Immaculate about 20km off the coast of the northeastern UK port of Hull, with both vessels bursting into flames.

The footage is said to have been taken on board the cargo ship and shared on social media.

The collision triggered huge fires aboard the two ships, which were still burning two days later although they had been greatly reduced by a huge high-seas firefighting effort.

The captain of the Solong cargo ship has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter.

The Solong container drifts in the Humber Estuary, off the coast of East Yorkshire, following a collision on Monday. Picture: PA via AP

The collision sparked environmental fears. Picture: Instagram/Tessaonenews

Prime Minister Keir Starmer paid tribute to the rescue services in parliament on Wednesday, hailing “the bravery and dedication of all those responding to the ship collision off the East Yorkshire coast”.

Last year Irish officials had found the Solong’s emergency steering compass was deficient during a routine safety check, documents from the port authorities revealed.

It was one of 10 issues noted in the inspection carried out when the ship visited Dublin in July 2024.

Ernst Russ told AFP on Wednesday that all of the detected deficiencies “were promptly rectified”.

The crew of both vessels were forced to abandon ship. Picture: AP

Fire and rescue services attend after the collision. Picture: Getty Images

The extent of the environmental impact is not yet known. Picture: Getty Images

At least one tank containing some of the 220,000 barrels of jet fuel on board the Stena Immaculate was “ruptured”, according to the tanker’s US-based operator Crowley.

That sparked concerns for the surrounding environment and wildlife. But there were “no further reports of pollution to the sea” following the “initial incident”, Virginia McVea, Chief Executive of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said.

Environmental campaign group Greenpeace, which had raised the alarm at the potential fallout in the wildlife-rich Humber estuary, said an “environmental disaster may have been narrowly averted”.

“Though an incident of this scale is rare, any such accident has the potential to become an environmental disaster,” said Paul Johnston from the Greenpeace Research Laboratories.

Ana Cowie, marine advocacy manager at Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, told AFP they were still waiting to see what the environmental impact would be, although the trust had not received any reports of damage as yet.

Crew members from Bridlington RNLI return to the lifeboat station in Bridlington after being involved in the rescue operation. Picture: Getty Images

“Because the oil (jet fuel) is lighter than water, it will create a film on the top and there is a risk of wildlife like birds, like porpoise, like dolphins ingesting that,” she said.

There were also concerns that any oil could coat the wildlife’s feathers and fur which would mean they were not able to fly, or feed themselves properly.

Ernst Russ said Wednesday that “the vessel continues to emit smoke with occasional reports of flames” and it was working with the investigators “to more fully understand these events”.

Maritime expert Abdul Khalique told AFP such a collision between an anchored ship and another on a “routine” journey was “very rare”.

“It’s still not known why was MV Solong unable to take action to avoid collision,” said Khalique, head of the Maritime Centre at Liverpool John Moores University.

The vessel missed “multiple opportunities” to change course, he said, adding the full reasons for the crash would only emerge after the investigation.

The Stena Immaculate was on a short-term US military charter with Military Sealift Command, according to a spokesperson for the command, which operates civilian-crewed ships for the US defence department.

According to data collected by website VesselFinder, the impact of the crash was so severe that it displaced the tanker by “more than 400 metres”.

– with AFP

Originally published as Captain charged over cargo ship smash with oil tanker in North Sea; one crew member dead