The captain of a Portuguese-registered cargo ship was arrested this week after his ship rammed into a United States-flagged tanker in the North Sea that was under contract by the United States military to transport jet fuel.
The 59-year-old Russian national, who has not yet been identified, was arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter by British authorities shortly after the incident occurred.
Officials have not ruled out foul play after the United States-flagged MV Stena Immaculate was struck by the Portuguese-flagged MV Solong container ship on Monday while at anchor off the coast of the U.K.
USNI News reported that the ship was under a 70-day contract by Military Sealift Command to support the Defense Logistics Agency, which is responsible for managing fuel for the United States military.
“The collision and ensuing explosions will not impact operations or combat readiness,” a United States official told Reuters. “We do not have a single point of failure.”
While there is no official indication that Russia was behind the incident, officials have been on heightened alert amid Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine as it is believed that they were behind sabotage efforts that have destroyed undersea cables and various manufacturing sites throughout Europe of components critical to Ukraine’s war effort. They are also believed to have been behind a foiled plot to place bombs on cargo planes destined for the United States.
Martyn Boyers, chief executive of the nearby Port of Grimsby East, told CNN that he was shocked by the accident given that it should have been easily avoided.
“It seems a mystery, really, because all the vessels now have very highly sophisticated technical equipment to plot courses and to look at any obstacles or anything they’ve got to avoid,” he said.
He said that there had to have been “warning signs” on the Solong.
“They must have been able to detect it on the radar,” he said.
The moment that the incident occurred was captured on video by Orca AI’s SeaPod unit. The video includes standard video, which shows that there was fog involved, and thermal imaging.
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