A Russian container ship captain has been sentenced to six years in prison for manslaughter by gross negligence following a collision in the North Sea that killed a crew member. Vladimir Motin, 59, was told by a judge at the Old Bailey that he had been a “serious accident waiting to happen” after failing to take any action to prevent his vessel, the Solong, from crashing into a stationary oil tanker, the Stena Immaculate.
The collision caused a massive explosion and fire, resulting in the death of Mark Angelo Pernia, a 38-year-old Filipino national. His body was never recovered. Pernia, who had a five-year-old child, never met his second child, born two months after the incident. Justice Andrew Baker stated that Motin’s failure to keep a proper lookout amounted to a “wholesale failure of his duty” over an extended period.
During the trial, Motin claimed he mistakenly pressed the wrong button when trying to disengage the autopilot to steer away from the tanker. He denied being asleep or leaving the bridge. The judge dismissed this account as “extremely problematic,” “improbable,” and “extremely implausible,” adding that the basic facts suggested a ship unaware of the vessel ahead.
The prosecution argued that Motin failed to maintain a proper watch, sound the alarm, summon help, or warn either crew of the impending disaster. The judge emphasised that the experienced mariner had shown a “blatant disregard for the very high risk of death” due to complacency and arrogance. Motin was found guilty by a jury on Monday.
In a victim impact statement, Pernia’s widow Leacel said no compensation could make up for her loss. In mitigation, defence counsel James Leonard KC conveyed Motin’s shame and condolences, noting his previously “blameless” record. The judge described Pernia’s death as “wholly avoidable” and noted that other crew members could have died, with the crash causing huge destruction of cargo.
