Captain of container ship charged after collision in North Sea

The Russian captain of the container ship that crashed into a US oil tanker in the North Sea has been charged.

The Solong's master, Vladimir Motin, 59, of Primorsky, St Petersburg, has been given a provisional date of January 12th to face trial charged with gross negligence manslaughter.

He appeared by videolink at the Old Bailey for an hour-long bail hearing on Friday (21/3).

He only spoke to confirm his name and date of birth, and had the help of a Russian interpreter.

No pleas were entered and he was remanded in custody.

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

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

Judge Mark Lucraft KC said Motin will next appear for a preliminary hearing at the same court on April 14.

Motin, who is married and has a daughter, had a slight beard and moustache, and wore glasses for the hearing.

He had short black hair, parted on the left, and was wearing a grey T-shirt.

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 at 6.50pm on the Sunday evening - about 15 hours before the impact.

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

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

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