In a tragic incident on the North Sea, the captain of a cargo ship has been accused of waiting too long to avoid a collision that resulted in the death of one of his crew members. The collision occurred on 10 March last year when the Solong cargo ship, captained by Vladimir Motin, crashed into the US tanker Stena Immaculate off the East Yorkshire coast.
According to the prosecution witness, Captain Brian McJury, Motin, 59, from Primorsky in St Petersburg, Russia, had ample time to change course and avoid the collision, but failed to do so. McJury told the court at the Old Bailey in London that if Motin had taken action to change direction when the Stena Immaculate was nine nautical miles away, “there was time to avoid it.”
The court heard that Motin was aware of the collision course with the Stena Immaculate when it was nine nautical miles away and had visual sight of it from three nautical miles. However, Motin reportedly told the police that he had tried to take manual control of the ship’s steering when it was one mile away from the Stena Immaculate, but the autopilot did not disengage.
In response, McJury stated that Motin should have had at least two people available to assist him on the bridge once he realised that the manual control was not working. “You have at least two people available to assist. So from that point forward you need to get people on the bridge,” he said.
The tragic incident resulted in the death of 38-year-old Mark Angelo Pernia, one of the Solong’s crew members, who is presumed dead. Motin is currently on trial at the Old Bailey, where he denies charges of gross negligence manslaughter.
The trial is ongoing, and it remains to be seen whether Motin’s actions, or lack thereof, will be deemed as the primary cause of the deadly collision. The case serves as a sobering reminder of the importance of swift and decisive action in maritime emergencies to prevent such tragic outcomes.
