The North Sea became a scene of fiery devastation last March when the container ship Solong collided with the US oil tanker Stena Immaculate. The impact, a “simple, senseless tragedy” as one investigator described it, resulted in the death of 38-year-old crew member Mark Angelo Pernia.
Captain Vladimir Motin, 59, stood trial at the Old Bailey, accused of manslaughter by gross negligence. The court heard how Motin, on sole watch duty, failed to act despite clear indications of an impending collision for over thirty minutes. He did “absolutely nothing” to alter course.
The Solong, 130 meters in length and carrying a cargo that included alcoholic spirits and empty containers once filled with sodium cyanide, had departed Grangemouth, Scotland, the previous evening. Its destination was Rotterdam.
The Stena Immaculate, a much larger vessel at 183.2 meters, was laden with 220,000 barrels of JetA1 aviation fuel, traveling from Greece to the UK. The two ships met with catastrophic force, igniting the highly flammable fuel and engulfing both vessels in flames.
The resulting fire burned for eight days, a terrifying spectacle that could have escalated into a massive environmental disaster. Remarkably, despite the violence of the impact, more fatalities were avoided – a crew member was even working on the Stena Immaculate’s mast at the moment of collision.
Jurors were presented with evidence suggesting Motin not only failed to prevent the disaster but also misrepresented the events that unfolded on the bridge. He denied the charge of gross negligence manslaughter, but after eight hours of deliberation, the jury found him guilty.
The collision unleashed a torrent of aviation fuel, quickly turning the sea into a blazing inferno. The incident serves as a stark reminder of the immense responsibility held by those navigating the world’s vital shipping lanes and the devastating consequences of negligence.
