The captain of the container ship that collided with a U.S.-flagged tanker carrying jet fuel for the U.S. military off the coast of England has been identified as a Russian national and taken into custody over suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter.
Maritime experts are searching for answers to how the Portuguese-flagged Solong container ship, equipped with modern navigation equipment, failed to avoid U.S.-registered tanker Stena Immaculate off the East Yorkshire coast on Monday morning.
BBC News said that local area police have launched a criminal investigation into the collision and arrested a 59-year-old Russian national piloting the ship at the time of the incident. He was arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter.
“Detectives are continuing to conduct extensive lines of inquiry alongside partners in connection with the collision,” Humberside Police said, adding they were also working with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency on the investigation.
Both the container ship and tanker ignited after the collision on Monday. Coastguard officials said 36 people were rescued from the vessels, and one remains unaccounted for, presumably dead.
A video reportedly taken from the bridge of #Solong showing the moments after the allision with #StenaImmaculate and the outbreak of fire.
The low visibility due to fog is evident but does not excuse the failure to see or identify the anchored tanker on radar. pic.twitter.com/B0iIlvfdGc
— Sal Mercogliano (WGOW Shipping) 🚢⚓🐪🚒🏴☠️ (@mercoglianos) March 11, 2025
Martyn Boyers, chief executive of the nearby Port of Grimsby East, expressed disbelief to CNN about the maritime incident because ships are equipped with radar and other modern navigation technology to avoid collisions.
MV #Solong has taken substantial damage forward from its 16 knots allision with #StenaImmaculate.
It looks like the collision bulkhead may have held and prevented flooding beyond the forehead.
The fire has ravaged the ship and no power. There is an attempt to tow here. pic.twitter.com/rU9hntZNKo
— Sal Mercogliano (WGOW Shipping) 🚢⚓🐪🚒🏴☠️ (@mercoglianos) March 11, 2025
“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,” Boyers said.
He continued: “How did that vessel (the Solong) continue plowing into the berth vessel? There must have been some warning signs. They must have been able to detect it on the radar.”
Some have been fixated on the GPS jamming angle on X while Solong was on autopilot during its transit. This is because the Stena Immaculate is a high-value target for foreign adversaries, as it is part of a fleet of 10 tankers involved in a U.S. government program to supply fuel to the military.
Also, let’s not forget that there is a war in Eastern Europe, and spillovers have been plentiful, including the demolition of Russia’s Nord Stream undersea pipeline. Plus, there has been an increase in Baltic Sea cable-cutting incidents recently, along with a mysterious sinking of a Russian military cargo ship in the Mediterranean late last year.
In the fog of war, it’s difficult to determine whether incidents outside of Ukraine are connected.
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