UK pollution fears ease after cargo ship crash, Russian captain still in detention

By Jonathan Saul and Sarah Young

LONDON (Reuters) - Fears of an environmental disaster eased on Wednesday, two days after a container ship ploughed into a stationary U.S. fuel tanker off northeast England, as the vessel's owner said the detained captain was a Russian national.

The Portuguese-flagged Solong had crashed with no obvious explanation into the larger Stena Immaculate, a tanker carrying jet fuel for the U.S. military.

Huge fires and explosions charred the Solong and left the Immaculate with a gaping hole, but owner Stena Bulk said most of its jet fuel cargo remained intact.

Stena Bulk Chief Executive Erik Hanell said only two of 18 fuel tanks had leaked, or about 10% of the cargo.

"We will have a much clearer picture in the next 24-48 hours on the whole salvage operation," he told Reuters.

Fuel leaked into the sea on Monday, raising fears for protected bird colonies, but the British coastguard said there had been no further reports of pollution from either vessel since then.

Fires on the Solong, which was being held in position by a tug, were greatly reduced on Wednesday, while no flames were visible on the Stena Immaculate, the coastguard said.

British police have arrested Solong's 59-year-old captain on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter.

Ernst Russ, the German company that owns the Solong, confirmed that he was a Russian national. The other 13 crew, one of whom is missing and presumed dead, are Russians and Filipinos.

The West's ties with Russia are under heavy strain over the war in Ukraine, and worries about sabotage of power cables, telecom links and gas pipelines have grown since a string of outages in the Baltic following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Russia's embassy in London did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Russians account for an estimated 11% of the global seafarer workforce, according to shipping officials.

The Stena Immaculate was at anchor when it was struck, making the collision particularly surprising, given the safety systems that modern vessels carry. But a spokesperson for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said there is no suggestion of "foul play".

The Stena Immaculate's 23 crew - all U.S. nationals according to Stena Bulk - were evacuated safely.

Maritime safety records suggest minor issues were found when the Solong underwent routine inspections last year, but none justified detaining it.

Ernst Russ said all the deficiencies had been "promptly rectified".

Britain's Marine Accident Investigation Branch will gather initial evidence, but overall responsibility for the investigation lies in the U.S. and Portugal, the ships' flag states.

(Reporting by Jonathan Saul, additional reporting by Muvija M, writing by Sarah Young and Sachin Ravikumar, editing by Paul Sandle, Alex Richardson and Kevin Liffey)