By Sam Tobin
LONDON, Feb 2 (Reuters) – The Russian captain of a container ship that crashed into a U.S. tanker off the east coast of Britain in March last year was found guilty in a London court on Monday of causing the death of a crew member through gross negligence.
Vladimir Motin, 59, was captain of the Solong when it hit the Stena Immaculate tanker, which was anchored and carrying just over 220,000 barrels of high-grade aviation fuel.
The March 10 crash started a blaze on both ships and caused the death of Solong crew member Mark Pernia, a Philippines national whose body has never been found and is presumed dead.
Prosecutor Tom Little told jurors at the start of Motin’s trial last month that the captain did “absolutely nothing” to prevent the collision, having been on course to hit the Stena Immaculate for more than 30 minutes before the crash.
Motin’s lawyer James Leonard said Motin unsuccessfully tried to take the Solong off autopilot and change course, arguing that while Motin was at fault he was not grossly negligent.
Motin, who had pleaded not guilty, was convicted of the gross negligence manslaughter of Pernia after a trial at London’s Old Bailey court. He will be sentenced on Thursday.
Little said in court that Pernia’s wife, who lives in the Philippines, was seven months pregnant at the time of his death and their child has since been born.
CRIMINAL TRIAL TO BE FOLLOWED BY LAWSUITS
The Portuguese-flagged Solong was heading from Grangemouth in Scotland to Rotterdam in the Netherlands, mainly carrying alcohol, a journey Motin said he had taken several times.
The Stena Immaculate was waiting for a berth to discharge its cargo when it was hit by the Solong at roughly 18 miles per hour (29 kph), causing a fire and pitching Pernia into the sea.
Motin’s Russian nationality prompted some suggestions of intentional sabotage, but maritime security sources said at the time that there was no indication of any malicious activity.
The Solong’s alarm system had been switched off and the crew of both the Stena Immaculate and the Solong were given no warning of the collision, Little told jurors last month.
The crash is also the subject of civil litigation, with the Solong’s owner, a subsidiary of Ernst Russ, facing a lawsuit at London’s High Court. It has applied to throw out the case and a hearing is due to take place next month.
Ernst Russ, which said last year that it was setting up a fund for potential lawsuits, said its “fullest sympathies remain with the family and loved ones of Mark Angelo Pernia”.
“We continue to provide support to the family,” it said in a statement, adding: “They have remained extraordinarily resilient throughout this difficult period”.
(Reporting by Sam Tobin; editing by Michael Holden and Alexander Smith)
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