It emerged that the ship had failed several safety checks last year. One sailor from the vessel is missing and presumed dead.
The captain of a cargo ship has been arrested in England on suspicion of manslaughter by gross negligence after the vessel under his command collided with a US-flagged tanker in the North Sea on Monday.
The 59-year-old man is of Russian origin, the vessel’s owner said on Wednesday. He has not been named by authorities.
Shipping company Ernst Russ, which owns the Portugal-flagged cargo vessel Solong, said that the ship’s 14 crew members were a mix of Russian and Filipino nationals.
UK authorities say they have so far found no evidence of foul play in the crash. Humberside Police said that detectives were conducting inquiries alongside partner agencies.
The UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch is also involved in investigating what caused the Solong, bound from Grangemouth to Rotterdam, to hit the stationary tanker, which was anchored about 16 kilometres off the English coast.
The investigation is being led by the US and Portugal, the countries where the vessels are flagged.
Meanwhile, information has emerged that the ship failed several safety checks last year.
Port inspection documents show the Solong failed steering-related safety checks in Dublin, Ireland, in July, with the vessel’s “emergency steering position communications/compass reading” unreadable. Inspectors found a total of 10 deficiencies, including “inadequate” alarms, survival craft “not properly maintained” and fire doors “not as required.”
An inspection in Scotland in October found two other deficiencies. The ship wasn’t detained after either inspection.
The cargo ship collided on Monday with MV Stena Immaculate, a tanker transporting jet fuel for the US military in the North Sea off eastern England, setting both vessels ablaze.
One sailor from the Solong is missing and presumed dead. The other 36 crew members from the two vessels were brought safely ashore with no major injuries.
The Solong was drifting and still on fire on Wednesday and is likely to remain afloat rather than sink, officials said.
The 183-metre Stena Immaculate was operating as part of the US government’s Tanker Security Program, a group of commercial vessels that can be contracted to carry fuel for the military when needed.
The collision sent jet fuel pouring into the sea and sparked fears of significant environmental damage. Environmentalists said that oil and chemicals posed a risk to sea life, including whales and dolphins and to birds, including puffins, gannets and guillemots that live on coastal cliffs.
Video editor • Rory Elliott Armstrong
