Oil tanker collision off Saltfleet (UK) – Russian captain arrested

On the morning of 10 March 2025, the Portuguese-flagged container ship Solong collided with the US-flagged tanker Stena Immaculate in the North Sea, around 14 nautical miles northeast of Spurn Head off the East Yorkshire coast near Saltfleet. The Stena Immaculate was at anchor, carrying Jet A-1 aviation fuel chartered for the United States military, when the Solong struck its port side at roughly 16 knots. The impact breached a cargo tank, the spilled fuel ignited, and both vessels caught fire.

Thirty-six people were rescued from the two ships and one was taken to hospital. One crew member from the Solong, a Filipino seafarer, went missing. The coastguard called off the search on 11 March, and he is presumed dead. After the search ended, police opened a criminal investigation and arrested the 59-year-old captain of the Solong on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter. According to gCaptain, the ship's owner confirmed the captain was a Russian national. He was later charged with the offence.

The UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch opened a safety investigation and published an interim report. As reported by gCaptain, that report found that neither vessel had a dedicated lookout on the bridge at the time of the collision and that visibility in the area was poor, varying between roughly 0.25 and 2.0 nautical miles. The MAIB said its full inquiry would examine navigation and watchkeeping practices, manning and fatigue management, and the condition of the vessels.

Despite the captain's Russian nationality, UK authorities treated the collision as a navigational accident rather than a hostile act. Investigators reported no evidence of foul play, sabotage, or third-party involvement, and the criminal case centres on alleged negligence and watchkeeping failures (no dedicated lookout, poor visibility), not deliberate harm. The nationality detail is context and not proof of intent. Including this incident in the record reflects an honest accounting: the available facts point to human error at sea, and any hybrid-warfare framing would be unsupported by the evidence.