Ship captain ‘did nothing’ to avoid tanker crash

The captain of a cargo ship “did absolutely nothing” to avoid crashing into an oil tanker in the North Sea that left one of his crew members dead, a court has heard.

Vladimir Motin was in charge of the Solong when it collided with US tanker Stena Immaculate off the East Yorkshire coast on 10 March, leaving Mark Angelo Pernia, 38, missing presumed dead.

The 59-year-old was “highly trained” and had a “constellation of information” telling him he needed to act but the Old Bailey heard he did the opposite and failed to avert the collision.

Motin, from Primorsky in St Petersburg, Russia, denies gross negligence manslaughter.

Opening the case for the prosecution, Tom Little KC said the trial was about “the entirely avoidable death of a seaman”.

“Ultimately, he would still be alive if it was not for the grossly negligent behaviour of the defendant,” the barrister said.

Little said the “collision course was obvious when seen from the bridge” and, before that, on the computer equipment on the bridge”.

The prosecutor added: “Despite an obvious collision course, the defendant did not deviate his course.

“The defendant was responsible for navigating the ship. He was on sole watch duty on the bridge at the time.

“Ultimately, he did nothing, absolutely nothing, to avoid the collision.”

The Portuguese-flagged Solong had been making its way south from the Scottish port of Grangemouth to Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

Little said the ship should have gone to the east to avoid other vessels at anchor waiting to enter the Humber Estuary.

“The course taken led to the fatality that this case is all about,” the prosecutor added.

When he came ashore at Grimsby Dock, Motin told police he had sighted the ship and went to switch to manual control, but it did not work and he had panicked and crashed into the ship, the jury heard.

Little said that the defendant did not alert his own crew or the Stena Immaculate before the collision.

In a WhatsApp conversation with his wife, Motin said: “There has been a disaster and I will be found guilty.”

When asked about the message in a police interview, he said he meant he would be found guilty under maritime navigation rules.

After he was charged with manslaughter, the captain said: “I didn’t do it deliberately.”

The trial continues.

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