Russian captain arrested after North Sea ship collision

The captain of the Solong, a container ship involved in a collision with a US-flagged tanker in the North Sea on Monday (10 March 2025), has been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter.

The ship’s owner, Hamburg-based maritime company Ernst Russ, has confirmed that the arrested captain is a 59-year-old Russian national. The vessel, sailing under a Portuguese flag, had a crew comprising a mix of Russian and Filipino nationals.

Solong crash

The crash occurred approximately 12 miles off the east Yorkshire coast when Solong, traveling at about 16 knots (18 mph) from Grangemouth, Scotland, to Rotterdam, Netherlands, struck the Stena Immaculate, a US-flagged tanker carrying 220,000 barrels of jet fuel for the US military. The tanker, which had arrived from the Peloponnese region of Greece, was anchored while awaiting port access in the Humber. The impact caused fires and explosions on both ships and led to a large-scale emergency response, including the HM Coastguard rescue helicopter, lifeboats and nearby firefighting vessels.

North Sea collision: Search for missing crew member called off 11 March 2025

British authorities launched a search-and-rescue operation, evacuating 36 crew members, including all 23 aboard the Stena Immaculate and 13 from the Solong. However, one crew member from the Solong remains missing. The search for the missing member, who has not been named, was called off on Monday evening.

The collision has prompted multiple investigations. Humberside Police have opened a criminal inquiry, with officers working alongside the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to determine the cause of the crash. Assistant chief coastguard John Craig confirmed to media that a counter-pollution response is in place to address any environmental risks. Investigators have found no immediate evidence of Russian state involvement or foul play, though officials say they continue to examine all possibilities.

Concerns about a possible sodium cyanide spill were raised early on, but Ernst Russ clarified that the Solong had only four empty containers that previously held the chemical. Air quality tests conducted onshore indicated no toxic contamination, and the UK’s Met Office has confirmed that no threat is posed to the public.

The environmental impact of the jet fuel spill appears to be less severe than initially feared. According to Crowley, the US-based company managing the Stena Immaculate, at least one of the tanker’s 16 segregated cargo tanks was ruptured, but most of the spilled fuel either evaporated or burned off. There has been no reported loss of engine fuel from either vessel. Both ships, which were initially drifting, have since been secured by tugboats.

Reports have now emerged that the Solong previously failed safety inspections. A port state control inspection in Dublin in July 2024 cited steering-related safety deficiencies, including unreadable emergency steering position communications and inadequate alarms. A subsequent inspection in Scotland in October 2024 found additional issues, including improperly marked lifebuoys.

Maritime experts have expressed surprise at the incident, given the level of advanced navigation technology available to such vessels. Speaking to CNN, Martyn Boyers, chief executive of the Port of Grimsby East, said: “It seems a mystery, really, because all the vessels now have very highly sophisticated technical equipment to plot courses and to look at any obstacles or anything they’ve got to avoid.”