North Sea tanker crash captain denies falling asleep, trial told

A cargo ship captain has told a jury at the Old Bailey that he did not lose consciousness or fall asleep in the hours before the vessel he was in command of crashed.

Vladimir Motin was the only person on watch duty on the Solong when it hit US tanker Stena Immaculate off the East Yorkshire coast on 10 March 2025, leaving Mark Angelo Pernia, 38, missing presumed dead.

Motin was asked twice if he had fallen asleep at different points before the crash, to which he replied “no”.

Motin, 59, from Primorsky in St Petersburg, Russia, denies gross negligence manslaughter.

Defence barrister James Leonard KC asked if he had left the bridge to use the toilet.

Motin replied: “I never left the bridge at the material time from 08:00.”

The trial has heard in detail how Motin was using various radar systems to track Solong’s course before it hit the Stena Immaculate.

The captain also explained that Pernia was on the bridge between 08:00 to 10:00 GMT carrying out engineering work before the vessels collided.

The court previously heard Motin told police he had tried to take manual control of the ship’s steering when it was one mile (1.6km) away from the Stena Immaculate, but the autopilot did not disengage.

The trial continues.

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