Ship crash captain 'was at fault', trial told

Prosecutors have ruled out mechanical failure in a fatal North Sea crash, telling the trial of a ship's captain: "The only thing not working was the man in the dock."

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, from St Petersburg, Russia, said he made a mistake when he tried to take the Solong out of autopilot and efforts to restart the steering gear had no effect.

Defence barristers for the 59-year-old said there was "no doubt" he was at fault for the collision but his actions did not amount to gross negligence manslaughter.

In her closing speech at the Old Bailey, prosecutor Julia Faure-Walker suggested Motin had lied about what happened to "get back to his wife" in Russia.

She said it was "inconceivable" an experienced mariner such as Motin was "unable to press a button" to switch from autopilot to manual steering.

Had he done so, Mark Pernia would still be alive, she told the court.

"It would have been blindingly obvious to him that he had pressed the wrong button, and how to rectify it if that is what happened," the prosecutor said.

"There were no mechanical or electronic difficulties on the Solong. The rudder was working. The only thing that was not working on the 10th March 2025 was the man in the dock."

The trial previously heard the defendant did not keep a proper lookout and he did not use all available means to determine the risk of a collision, or leave enough time to take evasive action.

He also allegedly failed to sound the alarm, summon help or initiate a crash stop, and should have acted sooner to steer the Solong away from its collision course.

Faure-Walker told jurors they may conclude Motin had a "lax attitude" and "thought he knew better than anyone else".

"Whether in isolation or combination, the defendant's failures were so exceptionally bad they amount to gross negligence," she added.

In his closing speech, defence barrister James Leonard KC told the jury "there is no doubt that the defendant was at fault" over the collision.

However, he argued "human error", a "bad mistake", or "error of judgement" did not amount to gross negligence.

After the Solong got to one nautical mile away from the Stena Immaculate, Leonard described the defendant as being "utterly convinced he's got manual control", but "that is the big mistake, he has pressed the wrong button".

"That is the mindset you have to deal with, he added. "'I am convinced I should have control, but I don't in fact have it'."

Leonard said Motin thought he had "simple solutions", having been recently told a sister vessel had a steering issue.

The barrister added by the time the captain realised there was going to be a collision, he thought a crash stop would not work or would hit the US tanker's accommodation area.

The jury was also told Motin had no reason to believe Mark Pernia was still on the bow, as he thought work being done that day would be completed by 10:00 GMT.

The trial continues.

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