Watch moment ship collides with tanker in North Sea off Yorkshire - causing huge explosion
This video shows the moment a ship collided with a tanker in the North Sea off the Yorkshire coast in 2024.
The collision sparked a huge explosion and led to a huge operation to rescue people on board both the American tanker Stena Immaculate and the Russian ship Solong.
The Solong's master, Vladimir Motin, 59, of Primorsky, St Petersburg , stands accused of the manslaughter by gross negligence over the death of crew member Mark Angelo Pernia, 38.
He is currently on trial at the Old Bailey, where a jury was told Motin did “absolutely nothing” to avoid the collision.
All 23 people on the Stena Immaculate were rescued along with 13 crew from the Solong, but Mr Pernia who was working at the front of the ship died -the able-bodied seaman’s body has never been found.
Opening the prosecution’s case on Tuesday, Tom Little KC said the “highly trained” captain, who was responsible for navigating the ship, was on sole watch duty as the Solong approached the Stena Immaculate, which was carrying very large quantities of aviation fuel.
He told the jury: “Despite an obvious collision course the defendant did not deviate his vessel from its path and the impending catastrophe that lay ahead."
He said the Solong was on collision course for longer than 30 minutes and as well as Stena Immaculate becoming visible, using the defendant’s estimates, 12 minutes away, the tanker’s position would have shown up on his radar screen some 36 minutes before.
The trial continues.