UK police charge Russian captain involved in U.S tanker crash with manslaughter

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LONDON (Reuters) -British police said on Friday they have charged the Russian captain of a container ship that crashed into a U.S. tanker earlier this week with manslaughter and gross negligence.

The 59-year-old Vladimir Motin was captain of the Portuguese-flagged Solong that hit the Stena Immaculate tanker, carrying military jet fuel, at close to full speed on Monday.

Motin has been remanded in police custody, and will appear at Hull Magistrates Court on Saturday, the police said.

One crew member, 38-year old Filipino national Mark Angelo Pernia, died, Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service said, while 36 other crew members survived and were brought to shore.

The collision caused huge fires and explosions, and spilled jet fuel into the sea. Initial concerns of an environmental disaster subsided as assessments showed the jet fuel had mostly burned off and there was no sign of other leaks from either ship.

Salvage companies boarded the two vessels on Thursday and were carrying out initial damage assessments, the coastguard said. In an update on Friday, it said there were only small periodic pockets of fire, which were not causing “undue concern”.

Police said extensive lines of inquiry were continuing but it was taking time given the vessels were still at sea and there were a large number of witnesses involved.

Russia’s embassy in London said in a statement shared on messaging platform Telegram that it had a “detailed telephone conversation” with the captain on Thursday, and that he was feeling well.

The embassy said it was also in close contact with British authorities. The incident comes at a time of fraught relations between London and Moscow.

Five Russian citizens were on board the container vessel, TASS has said, citing the embassy.

(Reporting by Sarah Young, Sam Tabahriti and Gursimran Kaur; Editing by Catarina Demony and Rosalba O’Brien)