Container ship captain ‘did nothing’ to prevent deadly Humber estuary crash, court hears

A Russian ship captain was “negligent” and did “absolutely nothing” to prevent the deadly Humber Estuary crash, a court has heard.

Vladimir Motin, 59, was charged after his container ship, Solong, collided with US oil tanker the Stena Immaculate in the North Sea last March, while he was on sole watch duty and responsible for navigating the ship.

Mark Angelo Pernia, 38, died in the collision off the East Yorkshire coast, but Motin, from Primorsky, St Petersburg, has denied the manslaughter of his crew member.

Opening his Old Bailey trial on Tuesday, prosecutor Tom Little KC said the case involved the “entirely avoidable death” of one of his crew.

He told jurors: “Ultimately, he would still be alive if it was not for the grossly negligent conduct of the man in the dock, the defendant, and who was the captain of the very vessel upon which the seaman who lost his life was working.

“The captain owed him a duty of care to keep him safe and the defendant, we say, manifestly breached that duty of care and caused his death. The risk of death was serious and obvious and negligence was so bad that it was gross.”

On the morning of 10 March 2025, the Solong was in the North Sea approaching an area where other ships, including the Stena Immaculate, were anchored.

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At about 9.47am, the front of the Solong crashed into the side of the anchored Stena Immaculate.

The US registered tanker was carrying large quantities of aviation fuel which leaked out, causing fire to spread across both ships, jurors were told.

Mr Pernia was working at the front of the Solong and died in the collision, although his body has never been found, Mr Little said.

Mr Little said the Solong was on a direct collision course with the Stena Immaculate for more than 30 minutes and it was “obvious” a crash was possible, both when the vessel became visible to the naked eye and from information displayed on computer equipment available to Motin.

The prosecutor told jurors that, despite warning signs that he needed to act, the “highly-trained” Motin “did precisely the opposite, and he did nothing to avoid the collision”.

“He could and should have acted differently,” Mr Little said.

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There were a number of things the “highly trained” captain “could and should have done”, Mr Little said.

“It is this gross breach of duty to the man he killed, and indeed to his own crew, that led inexorably to a death and to him being on trial before you at the Old Bailey,” the prosecutor said.

Mr Justice Andrew Baker told jurors they must be “blind” to the nationalities of seafarers involved in the collision between the two ships.

He said: “This case is brought here, by which I mean, in this country, because this maritime collision occurred in English waters.

“It is not in any way unusual to find that the seafarers involved came from a range of different nationalities.”

He added this fact is “entirely irrelevant” to the issue jurors must consider and urged them to be “blind” to where various mariners may have come from.

Motin has denied manslaughter. The trial continues.