Manslaughter Trial Begins for Captain of Solong Involved in Fiery Collision
The Russian master of the containership Solong was scheduled to begin his trial for the 2025 collision in which the vessel, while on his watch, rammed the US-flagged tanker Stena Immaculate. UK authorities charged Vladimir Motin, age 59 from Russia, with gross negligent manslaughter just days after the March 10, 2025, incident, which killed one crewmember aboard the containership.
The trial was set to begin at London’s “Old Bailey” court, 10 months after the incident. Motin pleaded not guilty last spring but has remained in custody awaiting trial. The case was initially delayed by the need to find a Russian interpreter, but since then, there have been a series of preliminary hearings.
Likely to play a key part in the trial is the April 2025 preliminary report from the UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch. It highlighted that Motin had been on the bridge as the vessel departed Scotland the night before. He handed over the bridge at around 2400 to the second officer and returned to the bridge at 0700 to assume the watch. He was the lone watchkeeper, despite requirements for a lookout at night and in foggy conditions, a violation that MAIB has emphasized in previous collision reports.
The Stena Immaculate was fully laden with a cargo of jet fuel and hand anchored approximately 13 miles off Hull on the east coast of England, waiting for a berth. Operator Crowley asserts that the ship had the proper “at anchor” watch and was in a well-known anchorage area. MAIB, in its preliminary report, said one of the issues to be explored is the UK anchorages.
The bow of the Solong was driven into the port side of the tanker, puncturing one of the cargo tanks, and the heat and friction of the accident ignited the fuel. Crowley has highlighted that the actions of the crew, starting the fire suppression system, before abandoning ship, helped, but the fires burned for days. The Solong was fully consumed by the fire. Crews operating support vessels for the offshore wind farms helped to rescue the crew from the two ships and transport them to shore.
MAIB reported conditions at the time included “patchy” visibility. Solong was traveling at approximately 16 knots.
Reports indicate that the trial is expected to run for several weeks. Separately, the owner of the Solong, Ernst Russ, and Crowley, as the charterer operating the tanker for the United States, have also filed legal claims.
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The Solong was eventually towed to a port in the UK for remediation after the fire. It was later taken to Belgium for recycling. After the fires, the remainder of the cargo on the Stena Immaculate was offloaded, and the ship was taken to a port in the UK. Stena Bulk reported in October that the tanker had been sold and that the new owners intended to repair the vessel.
The UK authorities, aided by volunteers, swept the local beaches to clear debris that washed ashore from the containership. Included in its cargo were 15 containers with nurdles. The UK authorities have reported removing more than 16 tons of plastic from the beaches, while environmentalists continue to cite the damage to the local ecosystem.