Solong’s Captain Appears in Court for Arraignment for Manslaughter

The captain of the Portuguese-flagged containership Solong which hit the American-flagged tanker Stena Immaculate on March 10 off England made a brief court appearance on Saturday. The Humberside Police reported on Friday that they had officially charged him with gross negligence manslaughter and remanded him to police custody after announcing the arrest of the 59-year-old on Tuesday, March 11.

Vladimir Motin of Primorsky, St Petersburg, in Russia, appeared Saturday morning, March 15, in a court in Hull, England for the formal reading of the charges. Reports said he appeared with an interpreter and did not enter a plea. The court ordered him held and set a hearing for April 14 at the Central Criminal Court known in the UK as the “Old Bailey.”

During the hearing which lasted less than an hour, prosecutor Amelia Katz provided the first details surrounding the incident. She told the court Motin had taken the watch about three hours before the allision and was in command when the containership hit the tanker. She told the court records show the vessel was traveling at a speed above 15 knots.

Reuters quotes the prosecutor as telling the court, “For a period of over 40 minutes before the collision, the Solong was on a direct route for impact with the Stena Immaculate, which was anchored and stationary. There were no communication attempts from the Solong to warn of the impending collision and the Solong did not adjust its course or speed at any point.”

Frank Ferguson, Head of the Crown Prosecution Service Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said yesterday in a statement that they had authorized the charging of Motin. He noted that Filipino national Mark Angelo Pernia, age 38 and a crewmember on the Solong, was missing and presumed to have died during the collision and