‘Arrogant’ ship captain jailed for six years over fatal North Sea crash

A sea captain was told he was a “serious accident waiting to happen” as he was jailed for six years for killing a crew member when his ship crashed into an oil tanker off the coast of Yorkshire.

Russian Vladimir Motin had been on sole watch duty when the Solong collided with the Stena Immaculate anchored near the Humber Estuary at 9.47am on March 10 last year.

Mark Angelo Pernia, 38, who was working on the Solong’s bow, died instantly in the fire, although his body was never recovered.

The Filipino man had a five-year-old child at the time of the collision but he never met his second child, who was born two months after his death.

At his trial, Motin claimed he knew the Stena Immaculate was up ahead but pressed the wrong button to take the Solong out of autopilot and steer safely away.

Motin denied he had been asleep or had left his post on the bridge.

The prosecution asserted that Motin failed to keep a proper watch for a lengthy period of time and then failed to sound the alarm, summon help or warn either crew of the impending disaster.

A jury deliberated for eight hours to find Motin, 59, from St Petersburg, guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence.

Jailing Motin for six years, Mr Justice Andrew Baker told him: “You were a serious accident waiting to happen.”

Motin had shown a “blatant disregard for the very high risk of death” and fallen prey to his own complacency and arrogance, the judge said.

Mr Pernia was described by colleagues as a friend and had appeared “quietly confident, at ease, a man upon whom one might depend”, the court heard.

His death was “wholly avoidable” and the blame lay squarely on the defendant, the judge said.

Other members of the Solong and Stena Immaculate crew could have died and the crash caused “huge” destruction of the cargo, he added.

The senior judge said Motin’s account was “highly implausible”, adding his explanation he did not initiate a crash stop for fear of hitting the accommodation block of the Stena Immaculate was “desperate stuff”.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, Mr Pernia’s widow Leacel said no amount of compensation made up for the “pain” of her loss and the impact on her young family.

In mitigation, James Leonard KC conveyed the defendant’s “shame” at what happened, his condolence to Mr Pernia’s family and his vow never go to sea again.

The defence barrister highlighted the experienced mariner’s “blameless” previous record, saying: “This was truly an aberration of his conduct.”

Previously, the court heard the Solong, which was 130 metres long and weighed 7,852 gross tonnes, had left Grangemouth in Scotland at 9.05pm on March 9 bound for the port of Rotterdam in Holland.

With a 14-strong crew, it was carrying mainly alcoholic spirits and some hazardous substances, including empty but unclean sodium cyanide containers.

The Stena Immaculate, with a crew of 23, was 183.2 metres long and was transporting more than 220,000 barrels of JetA1 high-grade aviation fuel from Greece to the UK.

With both ships laden with flammable cargo, the danger in the event of a collision was obvious, jurors were told.

Motin was responsible for multiple failures in the lead-up to the tragedy and then lied about what took place on the bridge, the prosecution said.

The Stena Immaculate was visible on the Solong’s radar display for 36 minutes before impact, yet Motin did nothing to steer away from the collision course.

He failed to summon help, slow down, sound the alarm to alert crews of both ships or instigate a crash stop as a last resort, the prosecution said.

Dramatic CCTV footage captured the moment both ships were consumed in a massive blaze ignited by leaking fuel from the Stena Immaculate.

The shocked crew aboard the US tanker reacted instantly, saying: “Holy shit… what just hit us… a container ship… this is no drill, this is no drill, fire fire fire, we have had a collision.”

Jurors heard a lengthy silence from the bridge of the Solong before it crashed into the oil tanker at a speed of 15.2 knots. A full minute elapsed before Motin was heard to react.

Motin and the remaining Solong crew abandoned ship and were taken ashore in Grimsby, where the defendant messaged his wife, saying he would be “guilty”.

Jurors heard Motin had switched off the Solong’s bridge navigation watch alert system (BNWAS), which was designed to ensure there is someone physically on the bridge and awake.

Speaking outside the Old Bailey on Thursday, Detective Chief Superintendent Craig Nicholson, of Humberside Police, said Motin had “completely failed in this duty”.

He said: “Mark Pernia was a merchant sailor who tragically died whilst doing his job, but he was also a beloved husband and a father to two young children, and his entire family have been devastated by his loss.

“I would like to express my sincere and heartfelt condolences to Mark’s family, and my gratitude for their patience and understanding throughout this extremely complex and lengthy investigation.

“Had it not been for the valiant rescue efforts led by His Majesty’s Coastguard, the loss of life would undoubtedly have been far greater and the wider environmental impact could have been catastrophic.

“This was a tragic and unnecessary death, and I hope that this outcome will act as a stark reminder of the responsibilities held by all those who operate at sea and that future tragedies can be prevented.”