Cargo ship’s captain arrested over North Sea crash

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Cargo ship’s captain arrested over North Sea crash

7:00 CAT | 12 Mar 2025

File photo: PA Media

The captain of a cargo ship has been arrested after it collided with an oil tanker in the North Sea.

The Portuguese-flagged Solong and the US-registered tanker Stena Immaculate crashed off the East Yorkshire coast at about 10:00 GMT on Monday.

Humberside Police said the 59-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter following searches for a missing crew member of the Solong.

Smoke is continuing to billow from the Solong, but Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said both ships were expected to remain afloat.

German firm Ernst Russ, which owns the Solong, confirmed to the BBC that the man arrested is the master of the ship.

It said he, along with the rest of the crew, were assisting the investigation.

A crew member from the cargo ship was still missing and presumed dead after a search and rescue operation ended on Monday evening, according to Transport Minister Mike Kane.

Whitehall sources have told the BBC there were Russians and Filipinos among the crew of the Solong.

The BBC understands all 23 crew on board the Stena Immaculate are Americans. They are all in Grimsby and are likely to be repatriated in due course.

Police said they had begun a criminal investigation into the cause of the collision and was working with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch was also undertaking a parallel preliminary assessment to establish the causes of the crash, police said.

HM Coastguard confirmed 36 people had been taken safely to shore.

By Pritti Mistry and Jonathan Josephs

Source: BBC