At rest, ship burned out in horror collision that sparked fireball in the North Sea

The container ship that collided with a US tanker in the North Sea arrived in Aberdeen yesterday as part of a salvage operation.

Portuguese vessel Solong was towed to a ‘safe berthing’ after it crashed into the anchored tanker Stena Immaculate off the East Yorkshire coast on March 10.

Rescuers saved 36 people from both ships, with one sailor from the Solong - named as Filipino national Mark Angelo Pernia, 38 - missing presumed dead.

The Solong’s captain, Vladimir Motin, 59, of St Petersburg, Russia, has appeared at the Old Bailey charged with gross negligence manslaughter and was remanded in custody.

It was accompanied by a vessel with counter-pollution measures as it arrived at the Port of Aberdeen at around 7am on Friday.

The Solong was still burning a week after it collided with the US fuel tanker, whose crew were praised as ‘heroic’ for triggering a crucial firefighting system before abandoning ship.

MV Solong is towed by tugs into Aberdeen Harbour

The impact between the Solong and the US-registered tanker Stena Immaculate in the North Sea on 10 March, off East Yorkshire, caused an explosion

The Solong arrives at the Port of Aberdeen for safe berthing

Only one of the Stena Immaculate’s cargo tanks containing jet fuel was damaged, according to Crowley, the maritime company managing the ship.

Chief coastguard Paddy O’Callaghan said: ‘The Solong is now safely berthed at the Port of Aberdeen where further salvage operations will be undertaken.

‘Salvage of the Stena Immaculate continues to be progressed. This includes the transfer of its cargo to another vessel that may begin as early as this weekend.

‘HM Coastguard continues to support local authorities in their response to onshore pollution, including plastic nurdles, in both Norfolk and Lincolnshire.

‘HM Coastguard will continue to keep the overall situation under close review.’

Following the collision, thousands of plastic pellets used in plastics production, known as nurdles, were released from ruptured containers on the Solong and began washing up on beaches on the Norfolk coast, where a clean-up operation is continuing.

According to conservationists, the nurdles are not toxic but can harm animals if ingested.

King’s Lynn and West Norfolk Council said it had begun removing the nurdles, focusing initially on the stretch of beaches between Holme-next-the-Sea and Old Hunstanton.

‘HM Coastguard continues to support local authorities which are leading the onshore response to pollution, including plastic nurdles, in Norfolk and Lincolnshire,’ Mr O’Callaghan added.

‘HM Coastguard will continue to keep the overall situation under close review.’

A spokesperson for Ernt Russ, the company which owns Solong, said the fire-stricken ship will be ‘fully assessed by specialist marine assessors and insurers’ in Aberdeen.

Motin is due to stand trial in January 2026.