London – The Russian captain of a load ship that collided with an American oil tanker In the North Sea he declared himself innocent of the involuntary homicide of one of his crew at a hearing in the United Kingdom court on Friday.
Vladimir Motin, 59, of St. Petersburg, appeared by prison video for the Court prior to the trial in the Central Criminal Court of London. Assisted by a Russian interpreter, he denied a position of Gross Homicide for the death of Mark Angelo Pernia, 38.
Motin was ordered to stop until his next hearing, and his trial was scheduled for January 12.
The cargo ship with a flag of Portugal Solong was traveling to about 15 knots (17 mph or 28 kph) when it hit the cistern truck anchored MV Stena Immaculate to about 12 miles (19 kilometers) from the northeastern coast of England March 10causing a fire that lasted almost a week. The oil tanker was Fuel transport for airplanes for the US army.
Rescuers saved 36 people from both ships. Pernia, of the Philippines, is missing and is presumed dead.
The United Kingdom authorities have said that there is nothing to indicate that the collision was connected to national security.
The environmental damage by the collision was much less than initially feared, although thousands of granules used in the production of plastics, known as nurrs, of the broken containers in the Solong since then they have been washed along the east coast of England.
Conservationists say that nurrs are not toxic, but they can damage animals if they are ingested.
