British police question Russian captain of ship that hit oil tanker

Police were questioning the Russian master of a container ship yesterday over the North Sea collision as salvors planned to board the second stricken vessel to assess the damage.

- Robyn Vinter Josh Halliday Dan Sabbagh

The 59-year-old mariner was in custody in East Yorkshire after being arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter over the crash, which left a member of his crew feared dead.

The vessel he was captaining, the Solong, hit a US-flagged tanker, the Stena Immaculate, carrying jet fuel for the American military. The Stena Immaculate was anchored while waiting for space at a port in the Humber after travelling from the Peloponnese region of Greece.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said yesterday that fires onboard the Solong had "greatly reduced" and that it was being held in a safe position off the coast of Yorkshire, having broken free of the Stena Immaculate on Monday night.

Coastguard officials had hoped to board the Stena Immaculate to carry out an initial damage assessment yesterday before salvors could begin a full review of the wreckage.

The Solong was sailing from Grangemouth in Scotland to Rotterdam in the Netherlands at about 16 knots, or roughly 18mph, when it collided with the tanker.