the trial/hearing has started.
https://www.seatrade-maritime.com/accidents/solong-captain-pleads-not-guilty-to-manslaughter
I don’t claim to know the protocols here, but I would assume that any definitive/final MAIB report (following their April '25 Interim report) will be held back until after this trial to avoid prejudice. (“sub judice” etc)
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Final Report Publication: Investigating authorities should aim to publish the final safety report within 12 months of the accident.
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Interim Reports: If a final report cannot be completed within 12 months, the authority must publish an interim report within that same 12-month timeframe to update the public on the investigation’s progress
I heard but can not find the confirmation in IMO that the time limit is 24 months .
Res.MSC.255(84)CasualtyIinvestigationCode.pdf (142.1 KB)
Not sure why it is manslaughter instead of involuntary manslaughter charge.
Thanks for that code link - where Chapter 24, I believe, covers my earlier assumption.
"Involuntary " vs "negligent " vs "ordinary " manslaughter? No idea.
Reports say trial could be 4 weeks.
“ Little told jurors as Motin listened with the help of a Russian interpreter: “He (Pernia) would still be alive if it was not for the grossly negligent conduct of the man in the dock. ”
While the conduct of the captain can not be defended with available info one may say the R.I.P. victim would still be alive like other crew of the Solong, who at the given time of the collision were in the superstructure and/or other places not affected by the blast/fire and were able to safely evacuate. Nothing is known if he went to the forecastle following a specific master order, followed a daily routine or just went there on his own violition. One will never find out abt it.
The prosecutor Little is really LITTLE .
Glad to read the Solong master had an interpreter as he was not afforded one at first/initial hearings. No word what his defense attorney said or if he had any.
My gut filling is the poor sod will have to go through an ordeal somehow similar to inquisitional tribunal in an environment where hatred against ruskies is visceral and sentiments extremely russophobic.
“ The Solong’s alarm system, which was intended to ensure someone was on the vessel’s bridge “ BNWAS. That is generally a standard on coasters , not a god one but it is.
“ Little added that the crew of the Stena Immaculate and the Solong were given no warning of the impending collision. “ - and this sentence is a key to indicate where this shit show will be going.
The brave crew of Stena needed no warning had they maintained a good navigational anchor watch as per industry standards .
And finally : if this , what is below is possible , then what to expect in this fair trial 
Andl please do not throw at me unfounded accusations of politicizing the discourse as the source material is loaded with politics if one care to notice
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I saw this BBC article mention something which I had not previously seen regarding this incident, perhaps I missed prior discussion but this was new to me:
When he came ashore at Grimsby Dock, Motin told police he had sighted the ship and went to switch to manual control, but it did not work and he had panicked and crashed into the ship, the jury heard.
More detail here in this MarEx article:
He reportedly said he had seen the tanker, attempted to switch to manual control, but he did not have enough time, and panicked as they hit the tanker. He reportedly told investigators he first saw the Stena Immaculate when they were at a distance of three miles and at one mile decided to make a manual turn to starboard. Media reports said he told the police he might have not disengaged the autopilot.
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“ Captain Vladimir Motin, age 59, of Russia, has pleaded not guilty, claiming first that he did not see the vessel and then that the controls of the containership did not react in time to prevent hitting the anchored tanker. During the first day of the case, the jurors were told that he was “highly trained,” having been at sea since 1985. He became a captain in 2005 and had commanded the Portuguese-flagged containership for 15 years. “
Well, well dear Capt. What is above and what is below and the net result clearly indicate that either U tell us bullshit or some miracle happened , for example U had miracously fallen asleep due to for example exhaustion , what seems to be more plausible or may be U only immagined U were so highly trained and this particular scenario have rigorously tested your skills proving it was not the case. Cut the BS and tell me the truth otherwise the last residue of my sympathy and patience will be gone. 
New details came out in court as the case began. Prosecutors confirmed the containership was traveling at approximately 16 knots. It hit the Stena Immaculate at a speed of 15.2 knots. Prosecutors contended that the tanker would have been visible on radar for about 36 minutes and become visible on the horizon about 19 minutes before they made contact.
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“asserting that the captain had “a duty of care””
I doubt that UK legal concept of “duty of care” applies to foreign flag…
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The BBC just posted a video.
Seems like there might have been nobody on the bridge of the Stenna Immaculate when it happened. You can hear someone running up the stairs about 1 minutes 10 seconds in.
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Stena Imm vid synched to whose VDR bridge audio? Pretty damning if it is Solong audio!!
Edit
My bad! Just read the small print on a laptop screen - it is!
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had commanded the Portuguese-flagged containership for 15 years. “
Some people people who claim n years of experience unfortunately have one year of experience repeated n times. All skippers can’t have above average competency after all.
Latest from Yorkshire Post - BNWASn’t!
“Bridge Navigational Watch Alarm System, which was designed to ensure the watchkeeper stays alert, had been switched off by the captain, who had the only key to it.”
North Sea collision: Captain switched off safety alarm system court hears
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exactly. That is the idea -only the master can have the key .
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"…he said the Bridge Nav… switched off… captain… only key…"*
Shaggy said- “It wasn’t me”
If it is Stena audio it does not look good either. Anybody here with valid argument it is not Stena audio???
Now. I am downloading all the available articles describing the begining of trial . Transcripts will surely be not available even after trial i suspect. And all this articles are like the telephone game written by scribbles who heard something . Not very reliable source of info of what was actually said and by whom.
“duty of care” issue . According to UNCLOS foreign flag vessels while in territorial waters and/or internal/navigable waters of a littoral state are subject to laws/statues , jurisdiction of littoral state as they enter such waters voluntarily and are supposed to be aware of it . But some legal eagle here if available can explain this issue better then me. But it is good idea to have a look at UNCLOS .
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Lets say I am convinced.
If You are on a ship pls experiment with VHF on any simplex channel. Tell the other guy to grab a VHF , set both units to same channel and keep reasonable distance ( abt 100mtrs) . When he preses TX button prior sending the message you will hear on your set a characteristic cracking noise prior hearing his voice message and same/similar sound when he stops pressing TX button.
And as You surely very well know in simplex mode you can not transmit and receive at the same time. To me the voice sounds like from VHF loudspeaker , message is too short but looks like russian speaking english . Wonder about the age of chief off Glulkhov as the voice sounds a bit like it is coming from a relatively youn person. Mutin was 59 .
If the voice record is really from Solong audio recording then one can clearly hear a person running up the steps , entering the bridge space well after the moment of collision.
Who was the person? Captain ?? -then he was not on the bridge . If he was and was sleeping then the impact should wake him up and one would expect a typical russian chatter preceded with characteristic curse YEBANA BLATZ or MATZ !!!
I am surprised by the paucity of audio records from Solong bridge as well as nothing from Stena. Is the voice record from Stena a matter of national security that it is hidden or was it conveniently lost ??? She surely was in much better shape after fire was extinguished then Solong.
I would love to hear these :
courtesy: of sky news.
Oh btw . Some face we have here 
. Would not like to meet this character in some dark corner .
source : sky news
But creama de la creme is here: Cross examined by James Leonard KC, defending, he ( Peter Skerys OOW) said he was “unaware” of Solong until the moment of impact, adding: “They were not sending any signals or making any calls to us.”
Pity transcript is not available as I can hardly believe a trained/educated officer could say this.
added: 16012025 early pm
Oh my Dear Kuba. You have always been caring , always soaked in apollogism, and always blaming the system , always hating the culture of blame & always believing in individual human being goodness and …virtue signaling all of the time
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