Days after the Russian captain of MV Solong involved in the North Sea oil tanker crash was arrested and questioned by police, it’s been revealed that five other Russian nationals were onboard.
The US-flagged MV Stena Immaculate was anchored off the Humber Estuary, 10 miles from Hull, when it burst into flames in a fireball after the Portuguese-flagged Solong rammed into it.
Stena was loaded with more than 200,000 tons of highly flammable jet fuel for US warplanes, while both vessels were powered by heavy fuel.
The 59-year-old Russian captain was arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter following the crash, which left one sailor lost at sea and presumed dead.
Police questioning the captain said they have been given extra time to hold the captain ‘due to the complexities of the incident’.
Humberside Police confirmed on Friday that magistrates had granted a further extension to the time detectives can hold the sailor, who was arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter on Monday evening.
The Stena Immaculate is still at anchor at the point where the collision happened, which is about 12 miles off the East Yorkshire coast, near Withernsea.
The Solong drifted south of this location, to a point where it could be seen off the Lincolnshire coast, and on Thursday chief coastguard Paddy O’Callaghan said it ‘continues to be held in a safe location by tug’.
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