The Russian captain of MV Solong involved in the North Sea oil tanker crash has been charged with gross negligence manslaughter.

Humberside Police made the announcement on Friday evening and named the captain as 59-year-old Vladimir Motin.

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.

The Crown Prosecution Service has since named Filipino national Mark Angelo Pernia, 38, as the Solong crew member lost at sea.

A statement from the force said: An investigation by Humberside Police supported by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) into the collision between a tanker and a cargo vessel in the North Sea, off the coast of East Yorkshire, has resulted in a man being charged.

The captain of the Solong vessel, Vladimir Motin, 59 years old, of Primorsky, St Petersburg, Russia, has been charged with gross negligence manslaughter and been remanded in police custody to appear at Hull magistrates court tomorrow.

On Monday, Humberside Police received a report at around 11am that a collision had occurred between the two vessels, resulting in one crew member being reported missing.

Extensive searches were carried out by HM Coastguard to locate the missing crew member, now presumed deceased.

The family are being supported by specialist trained officers and our thoughts remain with them at this difficult time.

Meanwhile, earlier today it was revealed that five other Russian nationals were onboard.

Police had been granted a further extension to the time detectives could hold the sailor, who was arrested 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 OCallaghan said it continues to be held in a safe location by tug.

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