Russian captain, steering failure, and three strikes to the hull: What we know about the tanker collision in the North Sea

Damage on the tanker Stena Immaculate. Photo: AP

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The collision between the container ship Solong and the tanker Stena Immaculate off the coast of the UK on March 10 resulted in the death of one crew member and fires on both vessels, which remained ablaze for several days. It was only on March 14 that rescuers were finally able to board the heavily damaged ships. UK authorities have arrested Solong’s captain, Russian national Vladimir Motin, charging him with manslaughter.

A sudden appearance

According to the UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB), the container ship Solong, sailing under the Portuguese flag, was en route from the port of Grangemouth in Scotland to Rotterdam in the Netherlands when it collided with U.S.-owned tanker Stena Immaculate. Preliminary investigations revealed that the Solong regularly used the same route it was following when the collision occurred. The vessel is owned by the Hamburg-based international shipping company Ernst Russ. The crew consisted of 14 people — nine Filipinos and five Russians, according to a report by the Russian state-run news agency TASS.

At approximately 10 a.m. GMT on March 10, Solong, traveling at a speed of 16 knots (about 30 km/h) and making no apparent attempt to avoid a collision, struck the anchored Stena Immaculate near the mouth of the Humber River, roughly 20 km off the coast of East Yorkshire. The U.S.-owned vessel was carrying 220,000 barrels of Jet A-1 aviation fuel intended for the U.S. military, stored in 16 tanks. Its crew of 23 were all American.

Three strikes to the fuel hold

Sources from Seatrade Maritime Newsreported that although there was fog that morning, visibility was around half a mile (800 meters), and that “Solong should have seen the Immaculate on its radar.” The first impact reportedly “knocked the tanker 40 feet,” after which Solong struck Stena Immaculate again. In total, there were three separate strikes to the U.S.-owned ship’s hull. The vessels remained entangled until evening, when the Portuguese-flagged container ship finally drifted south.

The collision ruptured a fuel tank on board the tanker, causing an explosion and fire. The crew initially attempted to extinguish the flames but, realizing the fire was uncontrollable, abandoned ship in lifeboats. The Solong’s crew also evacuated. One crew member — 38-year-old Filipino national Mark Angelo Pernia — was reported missing. Later, he was declared dead, though his body was never found.

Competing theories

Captain Vladimir Motin, 59, has been charged with one count of gross negligence manslaughter and is currently in custody in the UK, according to the Crown Prosecution Service. His trial is set to begin at the Old Bailey — the Central Criminal Court of England and Wales — in London on April 14. The case is being handled by UK police, while the MAIB continues its investigation into the causes of the collision. The UK government has stated that two additional parties will take part in the inquiry: the U.S., as the owner of the damaged tanker, and Portugal, under whose flag the Solong was operating.

Sabotage?

An unnamed White House official told the American maritime news site gCaptain that sabotage could not yet be ruled out. Stena Immaculate is part of a special fleet known as The Tanker Security Program, which supplies fuel for Pentagon operations and is made up of just 10 vessels. gCaptain noted that there are over 7,500 oil tankers worldwide, making the odds of a collision involving one of only 10 ships critical to U.S. Department of Defense and Navy operations “remarkably low.” However, the UK Department for Transport has stated that it currently sees no grounds to suspect sabotage.

Human error

A Stena Immaculate crew member, speaking anonymously, told reporters that Solong’s appearance was sudden and inexplicable. The tanker’s crew had transmitted their anchored coordinates, meaning all vessels in the area should have been aware of its position. According to the crew member, there were only seconds between the moment his colleagues spotted the container ship and the moment of impact. Furthermore, Solong did not immediately stop after the collision and instead continued ramming the tanker for about 10 minutes. Other crew members later described seeing no one on Solong’s bridge at the time of impact.

Technical malfunction

British broadcaster Sky News reported that a 2023 port inspection of the Solong in Ireland had uncovered steering issues. Official documents indicated problems with the emergency communication system that is used to transmit rudder position and compass readings. The vessel’s owner, Ernst Russ, stated that all defects had been “promptly rectified.”

The Insider interviewed a former Solong crew member who had previously worked with Captain Motin. The source, who requested anonymity, vouched for Motin’s competence.

“In my opinion, Motin is a fairly experienced captain. He often spoke about working on routes that included stops in Kronstadt, where maneuvering conditions are particularly challenging. He had to perform controlled skids at speed to enter the channel properly, and he did it flawlessly every time.”

The former crew member found the steering failure theory plausible, noting that such issues are common in the maritime industry.

“Steering failures are not uncommon. If a rudder system locks up, the ship can’t change course. It’s one thing if this happens in open sea, but it’s entirely different if you're surrounded by land or other vessels.

If Solong’s rudder got stuck, the captain and crew would have been focused on emergency repairs rather than navigation. My colleagues and I consider this a viable explanation. One of our former shipmates once experienced a similar incident — an approaching vessel with a locked rudder barely managed to veer off at the last moment, scraping their ship. Fortunately, there were no serious consequences that time.

But these are just theories. We need to examine Solong’s maintenance logs. If previous issues were reported, they may have been properly fixed.”

A maritime expert, speaking anonymously to The Insider, explained that such a malfunction would mean the crew would not have been able to use the ship’s backup steering system in an emergency.

“Steering is controlled from the bridge, either manually or via autopilot. If that system fails, a backup system is available in the same aft compartment as the steering gear and rudder. A crew member is stationed there and receives course directions from the bridge via telephone. There is also a repeater device displaying compass readings, which the crew member relies on to steer in emergency mode.

Based on the inspection report, it appears this repeater was not functioning. This means that in an emergency, the crew member manually steering the ship would have been unable to maintain the assigned course.”

A massive fire erupted after the collision between the container ship Solong and the tanker Stena Immaculate.

Photo: Mirror

Aftermath of the collision

The accident caused significant damage to Stena Immaculate, including at least one ruptured aviation fuel tank. The ship’s owner, U.S.-based Stena Bulk, later reported that two of the vessel’s 18 fuel tanks were compromised. Some of the fuel leaked into the sea.

Immediately following the incident, the maritime industry journal Lloyd’s List reported that Solong was carrying 15 containers of toxic sodium cyanide. However, Ernst Russ, the ship’s operator, denied the claim, saying that there were only “four empty containers that had previously contained hazardous chemicals.”

Environmental organizations have voiced concerns over the spill’s potential impact. Representatives from the international NGO Greenpeace told The Insider that both fuel oil and aviation fuel pose a serious threat to marine life. Moreover, the incident took place near vital breeding grounds for harbor porpoises, as well as colonies of seals and seabirds, including gannets, puffins, guillemots, and kittiwakes.