Russian captain appears in court over death of crewman in North Sea collision

The Russian captain of a container ship that crashed into a US oil tanker in the North Sea has appeared at the Old Bailey accused of manslaughter by gross negligence.

The Solong’s master, Vladimir Motin, 59, of Primorsky, St Petersburg, is charged over the death of crew member Mark Angelo Pernia, 38.

Motin appeared by videolink from Hull prison for a short hearing on Monday.

In the absence of a Russian interpreter to assist the defendant, Judge Mark Lucraft KC adjourned his plea hearing until May 30.

Motin, who is facing a provisional trial on January 12 2026, was remanded into custody.

His vessel was involved in a fatal collision with the American tanker Stena Immaculate off the coast of Yorkshire on March 10.

All 23 people on the tanker were rescued along with 13 crew from the Solong, but Mr Pernia – a 38-year-old Filipino – could not be located.

Mr Pernia was working in the forward deck of the Solong, in the area where there was an explosion.

The collision happened at about 9.47am at 10.2 nautical miles from the nearest point on the coast, a previous hearing was told.

The 140m-long Solong is Portuguese-registered and was carrying about 157 containers.

The Stena Immaculate is 183m long and was carrying jet fuel. It anchored at the point of the collision about 15 hours before the impact.

The Solong was travelling at about 15 knots when it hit the port side of the other vessel.