
Russian captain involved in US tanker crash pleads not guilty to manslaughter in UK court
The captain of a container ship that crashed into a US tanker off Britain's east coast pleaded not guilty on Friday in a London court to manslaughter by gross negligence over the death of a crew member in the collision.
Russian national Vladimir Motin, 59, was captain of the Portuguese-flagged Solong that hit the Stena Immaculate tanker, carrying military jet fuel, on March 10.
Motin was charged four days later with causing the death of Filipino national and Solong crew member Mark Pernia, 38, who is missing and presumed dead.
He appeared at the Old Bailey by videolink on Friday and pleaded not guilty to one count of gross negligence manslaughter.
More to come.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Red Sea Passage Remains a No-Go for Shipping Despite U.S. Action
The largest commercial shipping companies continue to avoid the Red Sea and Suez Canal, despite a recent cease-fire agreement between the United States and Houthis intended to make the trade lanes safer. The cease-fire, which began May 6, ended a U.S. campaign that involved over 1,100 strikes against the Houthis in Yemen and became a source of embarrassment for the Trump administration after group chats about the strikes inadvertently became public. The Pentagon had planned on a monthslong bombardment, but President Trump ended it after about 50 days. 'If the intention was to restore freedom of navigation, which is what they stated it was, then the results speak for themselves: The shipping industry has not gone back,' said Richard Meade, editor in chief of Lloyd's List, a shipping publication. Ship traffic through the Red Sea is down by around three-fifths since 2023 when the Houthis started targeting ships there in solidarity with Hamas in its war with Israel in Gaza, Mr. Meade said. Fearing that their vessels would be struck, big shipping companies avoided the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, taking a much longer route around the southern tip of Africa to travel between Asia and Europe. The Houthis have said they are still at war with Israel and will attack vessels bound for the country. And though the Houthis have not attacked a commercial vessel since December, shipping companies say they worry that their vessels may be hit, deliberately or mistakenly, and have no plans to sail the southern part of the Red Sea anytime soon. 'We're pretty far from the threshold,' said Vincent Clerc, the chief executive of A.P. Moller-Maersk, a large shipping line based in Copenhagen. Speaking soon after the cease-fire in May, he said the Red Sea would have to remain safe for the foreseeable future before the company's vessels returned. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.


Bloomberg
4 hours ago
- Bloomberg
Can the UK Spending Review Turn Ambition into Action?
Politics In the City There's growing speculation that Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves will make a significant push on infrastructure. By Save Subscribe to In the City on Apple Podcasts Subscribe to In the City on Spotify With the UK government's spending review fast approaching, all eyes are on Westminster. In a matter of days, the public will gain a clearer sense of how funding is set to be allocated across departments over the next three years. There's growing speculation that Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves will make a significant push on infrastructure—a signal, perhaps, of shifting priorities.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Badenoch ‘will get better', says Stride as Tories' polling woes continue
Kemi Badenoch 'will get better', one of her senior shadow ministers has said as the Conservative leader continues to languish in the polls. Shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride insisted Mrs Badenoch is 'the person to lead us' as he answered questions following a speech on Thursday. He said: 'She will get better through time at the media, she will get better through time at the dispatch box at PMQs. 'Just as Margaret Thatcher when she became leader in 75 was often criticised for everything from her hair to the clothes she wore to the pitch of her voice to heaven knows what else – in the end she got it together and Kemi will do absolutely that.' Mrs Badenoch has faced a challenging time since taking over the Tory leadership last November. Her party continues to poll in third place behind Reform UK and Labour, with a YouGov poll published on Wednesday showing the Conservatives on 18%, just one point ahead of the Liberal Democrats. Mrs Badenoch's own favourability ratings have also fallen since she became party leader, reaching minus 27% according to a More in Common poll carried out last weekend. Meanwhile, former leadership contender Sir James Cleverly appeared to split from Mrs Badenoch on the environment in a speech on Wednesday evening, urging his party to reject climate change 'luddites' on the right who believe 'the way things are now is just fine'. The Conservative leader has described herself as a 'net zero sceptic' and launched her party's policy renewal process in March by arguing it is 'impossible' to reach net zero by 2050. In his remarks on Thursday, Sir Mel said Mrs Badenoch is 'leading a shadow cabinet that is united'. He added: 'Our party has not been united in that way for a very long time, and she is going to drive through the process – with me and others – so that we come to the right conclusion.' Sir Mel's remarks followed a speech in which he sought to distance the Conservatives from Lis Truss's mini-budget, saying the party needs to show 'contrition' to restore its economic credibility. In a furious response, Ms Truss accused Sir Mel of having 'kowtowed to the failed Treasury orthodoxy' and being 'set on undermining my plan for growth'. Calling for a 'bold rewiring' of the economy, Sir Mel argued both Conservative and Labour governments in recent decades had failed to secure economic growth and improve living standards. He went on to attack Labour and Reform UK, saying Chancellor Rachel Reeves is 'fiddling the figures' and basing all her spending on borrowing, while claiming Nigel Farage's economic plan 'doubles down on the 'magic money tree' we thought had been banished with Jeremy Corbyn'. In response, Labour accused Sir Mel of failing to properly apologise for the mini-budget. A party spokesman said: 'Kemi Badenoch has spent the last six months making billions of pounds of unfunded spending commitments and promoting Liz Truss's disastrous top team. 'The Tories inflicted mortgage misery and sky-high bills on working people. Their weasel words can't change that fact, and their unfunded plans show they will do it all over again. They haven't changed.'