Russian captain jailed after fatal tanker crash

The court heard he failed to take action to prevent a crash between the cargo vessel he was driving, the Solong, and the Stena Immaculate, an oil tanker that was stationary at the time, in the North Sea near northeast England’s Yorkshire.

The Solong smacked into the port side of the Stena Immaculate at 9.47am on March 10 at about 16 knots. The Stena Immaculate was at anchor five miles north of the Humber light float and two miles clear of any pipeline, the report says. 

The explosion led to the death of 38-year-old crew member Mark Pernia, from the Philippines, whose body has never been found.

A Crown Prosecution Service statement said that Motin was ‘solely responsible for the navigation of his vessel’, ignored radar and tracking data, neglected to manoeuvre around the Stena Immaculate, did not stop his own vessel and failed to warn any crew or other vessels.

“Jurors were presented with evidence showing that Motin’s ship was on a direct collision course towards the anchored Stena Immaculate.” said the statement. “This was visible on computerised systems on the ship for more than 30 minutes before the collision and by human eye 12 minutes before the collision. There is no reasonable defence for why he did not act.”

Motin had also disabled a key safety alarm, and despite his claims of rudder failure, investigators found all equipment to be functioning.

“The six year sentence imposed on Vladimir Motin demonstrates how seriously the courts treat safety failures at sea where a life is lost,” said Grosvenor Law senior associate James Broomhall. “The court found that Motin failed to maintain a proper lookout and did not take adequate steps to avoid the collision, leading to a death the judge described as ‘wholly avoidable’.

“Gross negligence manslaughter arises where conduct falls so far below the standard expected of a competent professional that it becomes criminal.”

Malcolm McHaffie, head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s Special Crime Division, said: “These proceedings underline the gravity of a captain’s duty of care while out at sea. If that duty of care is breached, the consequences can be catastrophic. 

“The safety of lives at sea depends on vigilance and responsibility at every moment. The CPS will relentlessly pursue justice in cases where gross negligence costs lives.”