This is an update on a story we ran two weeks ago about an accident involving a ship chartered by the US Navy.
On March 10 at 0947 on a hazy morning in the English Channel, the Portuguese-flagged container ship Solong rammed the U.S.-flagged fuel supply ship Stena Immaculate, pictured above, which was lying at anchor close to the English coast.
The Stena Immaculate was under charter to the U.S. Navy’s Sealift Command and was loaded with more than 200,000 barrels of jet fuel. The collision breached one of the ship’s fuel tanks creating a massive leak. The heat generated by the collision ignited the fuel which set both ships on fire. Sadly, during the collision the able seaman Mark Pernia aboard the Solong, who was stationed in the foc’sal, disappeared and is presumed dead.
With the ships in flames, both crews abandoned ship by taking to their life boats. All, except, Pernia, were rescued by His Majesty’s Coast Guard.
(The burned hulk of the Solong being towed into Aberdeen, UK)
Following the accident, the UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch began a formal inquiry and this week issued an interim report that traces the Solong’s course leading up to the collision, creates a timeline for the watchkeeping schedule aboard the ship and shows plainly that the Solong was at fault.
The MAIB’s ongoing investigation will focus on several critical aspects.
“The investigation will encompass the navigation and watchkeeping practices on board both vessels; manning and fatigue management; the condition and maintenance of the vessels involved; the use of the offshore area as an anchorage for vessels waiting to enter the Humber Estuary; and the environmental conditions at the time,” the MAIB states.
The Solong’s captain, Vladimir Motin, has been charged with gross negligence manslaughter.
