By Shane CroucherNewsweek (Mar. 12, 2025)
https://www.newsweek.com/russian-national-was-captain-north-sea-ship-crash-2043369ARussian national was the captain of the Solong ship that crashed with the Stena Immaculate, a vessel chartered by the U.S. military, the container ship's owner Ernst Russ has said. The rest of the crew were Russians and Filipinos.
Humberside Police arrested the 59-year-old man on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter related to the incident. He remains in custody and has not yet been charged.
But the crash comes amid acts of
suspected Russian sabotage across Europe related to Moscow's war on Ukraine...
The Stena Immaculate was operating as part of the U.S. government's Tanker Security Program, a group of commercial vessels that can be contracted to carry fuel for the military when needed. It was carrying jet fuel.
The Portuguese-flagged MV Solong collided with the U.S.-registered Stena Immaculate near the port of Hull, in the United Kingdom, on Monday, setting off explosions and fires that burned for more than 24 hours.
While 36 crew members were safely rescued, one sailor remains missing and is presumed dead.
The American vessel was at anchor near the port of Grimsby on Monday morning after sailing from Greece, according to ship-tracking site VesselFinder.
The Solong was sailing from Grangemouth in Scotland to Rotterdam in the Netherlands when it struck the tanker's side.
U.S.-based maritime management firm Crowley, which operates the Stena Immaculate, said the tanker "sustained a ruptured cargo tank containing Jet-A1 fuel," when the container ship struck it, triggering a fire and "multiple explosions onboard," with fuel released into the sea...
