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UK ship collision: Solong captain charged with manslaughter; salvors board vessels
The captain of a container feeder vessel that collided with a Stena Bulk tanker off the UK coast has been charged with gross negligence manslaughter after an investigation by local police
Humberside Police and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) have led a joint investigation into the collision between a tanker and a cargo vessel in the North Sea, off the coast of East Yorkshire.
Humberside Police said the captain of the Portuguese-flagged container feeder vessel Solong, 59-year-old Vladimir Motin of St Petersburg, Russia, had been charged with gross negligence manslaughter and would appear at Hull Magistrates Court on Saturday, 15 March, 2025.
On Friday, 14 March, the UK’s HM Coastguard said that salvors have been on board both the container feeder vessel Solong and Stena Bulk’s MR tanker Stena Immaculate today to continue the work of carrying out comprehensive damage assessments.
Stena Bulk confirmed that salvors had boarded its US-flagged vessel, and Stena had earlier confirmed "at least one" of the 18 cargo tanks holding Stena Immaculate’s 220,000 barrels of jet A1 fuel destined for the US military suffered damage from a ship strike.
"We can confirm that specialist third-party salvage experts from SMIT Salvage have now successfully boarded the Stena Immaculate to conduct a thorough assessment. The vessel remains in a stable condition whilst these teams carry out their detailed inspection work under carefully controlled safety protocols," the shipowner said.
Citing "methodical, comprehensive and ongoing" salvage processes, Stena cautioned that the assessment and planning will require some time to complete comprehensive structural and systems assessments, and continuing actions to mitigate any potential environmental impacts.
"Working in close conjunction with the appropriate UK maritime authorities, a detailed salvage and towing plan will be developed and finalised once these assessments are complete," the line said.
On 13 March, Stena Bulk said fires had "completely ceased" on board its Stena Immaculate tanker and fly-overs and other assessments of the vessel’s external structure and the surrounding seawater have indicated no visible signs the vessel’s jet fuel cargo is continuing to spill.
On 10 March, under foggy conditions, Stena Immaculate was speared by Portugal-flagged container feeder vessel Solong while at anchor in the North Sea off the coast of the UK region of Yorkshire and The Humber.
- Video captures moment of impact as container ship Solong hits Stena tanker
- UK vessel fires: Russian captain of Solong arrested, ’uncertain’ amount of jet fuel spilled
- UK vessel fires: search called off for missing sailor, response turns to pollution mitigation
The UK’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) has been providing updates on the status of the two vessels for several days, after the vessels burned for more than three days following the collision.
In an update on 12 March, HM Coastguard said it remained unsafe for salvors to board the vessels. MCA said tugs had managed to tow stricken container vessel Solong to safety after the vessel separated from the anchored Stena Immaculate and drifted.
“While no fire is visible on Stena Immaculate, there are still small pockets of fire on the top deck of Solong," the MCA said. "Specialist vessels with fire-fighting capability continue to provide support to this aspect of the operation... Salvors will conduct onboard assessments of the vessels as soon as they are safe to board."
The MCA has also said no pollution has yet been observed on the surface of the water around either vessel, and that, while it has a pollution response team in place, it has not been deployed.
“HM Coastguard’s Counter Pollution and Salvage team has a comprehensive counter pollution response in place should it be required," the MCA said.
Stena said its vessel remains in "stable condition" following assessment on 12 March.
"The vessel remains in a stable condition, securely anchored, and is being continuously monitored via a salvage vessel by representatives from Crowley, Stena Bulk and UK government authorities," the company said.
Stena said it is fully co-operating in the investigation into the incident, which is being run by multiple local and national agencies, including the Marine Accident Investigation Branch in the UK.
"Our priorities continue to be supporting the incident response, mitigating any potential environmental threats, and ensuring the continued wellbeing of Stena Immaculate’s crew, who are currently in Grimsby," Stena Bulk president and chief executive Erik Hånell said.
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