UK Reports Says Neither Ship Had Lookouts Despite “Patchy” Visibility

The UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch released initial results from its ongoing investigation into the “very serious marine casualty” resulting from the containership Solong hitting the anchored tanker Stena Immaculate. While many of the details have already leaked in the media, it confirmed the now-arrested master of the Solong was alone on the bridge despite the presence of fog in the area and functioning with no more than approximately seven hours of sleep between watches.

The Portuguese-flagged containership was moving at a speed of 16 knots having departed the prior evening from Grangemouth, Scotland, and on a planned passage to Rotterdam following a route the ship had used in the past. The master of the containership, Vladimir Motin, was on the bridge when the ship departed around 2000 on March 9, handed over the bridge at around 2400 to the second officer, and returned to the bridge at 0700 to assume the watch. He was the lone watchkeeper, despite requirements for a lookout at night and in foggy conditions, a violation that MAIB has emphasized in previous collision reports.

“The visibility in the area north of the Humber light float was reported to be patchy and varying between 0.25 nautical miles (nm) and 2.0nm. Neither Solong nor Stena Immaculate had a dedicated lookout on the bridge. At 0947, Solong collided with the anchored Stena Immaculate’s port side on a heading (HDG) of 150° and speed over the ground (SOG) of about 16 knots (kts),” MAIB states in its interim report. It also says there was a slight swell of 1 meter.

MAIB emphasizes in the report that the findings are preliminary and that the investigation into the accident is ongoing. It states among the factors it will be exploring are “the navigation and watchkeeping practices on board both vessels, manning, and fatigue management.”

Other issues that will be considered in preparing the report include the use of the offshore area as an anchorage for vessels waiting to enter the Humber Estuary and the environmental conditions at the time of the allision. MAIB is also reviewing the condition and maintenance of the vessels.

It highlights that both vessels were above their minimum safe manning level and the efforts of the crews in managing the fires after impact. MAIB says the aviation fuel from the Stena Immacualte’s damaged number 7 tank was released into the sea on the bow of the Solong. The heat generated by the force of the collision ignited the fires which spread to the contents of the containers on the Solong. It notes the severity of the fire hampered the efforts to find the missing seafarer on the containership and the efforts to control the situation before both ships were abandoned.

It had come out in court that the captain was alone on the bridge of the containership when he was formally charged with gross negligent manslaughter. He is due for another appearance in court this month with a tentative date of January 2026 set for the trial.

The release of the report comes as salvage efforts continue. Local officials from Lincolnshire on the east coast of England said this week they so far have retrieved approximately 11 tonnes of plastic pellets that washed up on the beaches mostly in burnt clumps. The priority has been on the clumps, but they expect there are large quantities still to be recovered.

Crowley reported that the tanker Fure Vyle (17,950 dwt) has been hired and was anchored near the Stena Immaculate to begin the lightering of the remaining 202,485 barrels of Jet-A1 cargo from the damaged tanker. It will be shuttled to its original destination of Killingholme in the UK for the U.S. military while the Stena Immaculate will be towed to Newcastle upon Tyne for further inspection. Two ocean-going tugs appear to be working at the Stena Immaculate with the Fure Vyle still standing by as of April 3.

The Solong arrived in Scotland on March 28. She was tied up in Aberdeen where she is being inspected.