A London court has sentenced Russian captain Vladimir Motin to six years in prison for gross negligence over a 2025 ship collision that killed Filipino crew member Mark Pernia, whose body was never found.
A judge at London’s Old Bailey said Motin, 59, was an “accident waiting to happen”.
He had switched off alarm systems onboard the Portuguese-flagged container ship Solong shortly before it struck the anchored U.S. tanker Stena Immaculate on 10 March, 2025.
The tanker was carrying more than 220,000 barrels of aviation fuel when the collision occurred, triggering fires on both vessels and causing the death of Solong crewman Mark Pernia, 38.
Motin’s lawyer, James Leonard, told the court that Motin had tried but failed to take the Solong off autopilot to change course, arguing his actions did not amount to gross negligence. Jurors rejected that claim, convicting him earlier this week.
Prosecutor Tom Little read a statement from Pernia’s wife, who was seven months pregnant with their second child at the time of the crash. “Our longing for him will remain forever,” she said.
Prosecutors said earlier in the trial that the Solong had been on a collision course with the tanker for more than 30 minutes and that Motin did “absolutely nothing” to prevent impact.
The Solong's alarm system had been turned off and crews of the Stena Immaculate and the Solong received no warning of the collision.
Civil proceedings are ongoing. The Solong’s owner, a subsidiary of Ernst Russ, is facing a lawsuit at London’s High Court and has applied to have the case dismissed.
The company has said it set up a fund for potential claims and expressed its sympathies to Pernia’s family.
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