UK Court Convicts Russian Captain in Deadly North Sea Crash

A British court has found a Russian cargo ship captain guilty of manslaughter following a deadly collision in the North Sea last year.

Vladimir Motin, captain of the cargo vessel Solong, was convicted by a jury at London’s Old Bailey on Monday for manslaughter by gross negligence. The case relates to a crash in March last year, when his ship collided with an anchored oil tanker, Stena Immaculate, off the eastern coast of the United Kingdom.

The collision caused a major fire and led to the death of Mark Angelo Pernia, a 38-year-old Filipino crew member. Pernia, who was married and had a young child, was lost at sea. His body has never been recovered.

After eight hours of jury deliberation, Motin was found guilty. He showed no visible reaction as the verdict was read in court. The captain, a resident of Saint Petersburg, has been remanded in custody and will be sentenced on Thursday.

Investigating officer Craig Nicholson called the incident a “senseless tragedy” and said it was fortunate that more lives were not lost. He added that the situation could have resulted in multiple fatalities.

Prosecutors told the court that the Solong was on a clear collision course with the oil tanker and that Motin failed to take action to avoid the crash. They said the captain had enough time and opportunity to change course but did nothing.

Motin’s defence argued that he attempted to take the ship off autopilot and steer manually to avoid the tanker, but the attempt failed. However, the prosecution rejected this claim, saying that if Motin had altered course even one nautical mile earlier, the collision would not have happened.

The court heard audio recordings from the ship’s control room taken before the crash. Crew members were heard speaking casually shortly before the impact, with no signs of concern. Moments later, the sound of the collision was heard, followed by chaos and fire onboard.

Footage recorded by the ship’s third officer showed flames and heavy smoke as crew members prayed for help.

At the time of Pernia’s death, his wife was seven months pregnant with their second child and living in a remote area of the Philippines. She is expected to attend Motin’s sentencing hearing remotely.