Ship captain in fatal crash near Humber Estuary tells of steering problem
The captain has told jurors of a steering problem on a sister ship
A captain has told jurors he learned of a steering problem on a sister ship days before his container vessel smashed into the side of an oil tanker, killing a crewmate.
Russian Vladimir Motin, 59, was on sole watch duty when the Solong crashed into the anchored Stena Immaculate, and both vessels burst into flames.
Filipino Mark Angelo Pernia, 38, died in the collision near the Humber Estuary last March. His body has never been found, the Old Bailey has heard.
Giving evidence on Thursday, Motin said he had been working on ships since 1985 and became captain of the Solong in 2009, working six months on and six months off.
He had already done several trips from Grangemouth in Scotland to Rotterdam in Holland when the tragedy struck, the court heard.
About five of six days before, a company representative in Rotterdam raised a problem with the rudder on sister ship, the Samskip Express, Motin said.
The defendant said: "He told me on Samskip Express they suddenly start to suffer a very interesting problem with the rudder still subject to investigation."
It involved the Samskip experiencing a "sudden rudder blockage" without sounding any alarms, the court was told.
Motin said he was told not to be "afraid" if it happened on the Solong, and that he could rectify the problem by restarting the steering gear, stop the pump, and start it again.
Motin went on: "He said the Samskip Express was still under investigation and he asked me if I had a similar problem to report and he will pass it to technical management. I never had this problem. It never happened here (on the Solong)."
The defendant told jurors the Solong set off from Grangemouth at 8.48pm the night before the crash.
He was on watch until midnight and then back at 7.53am, the court heard.
Motin told jurors he remembered the exact time because it was his "last watch".
He told jurors that visibility was around three nautical miles and it was daylight when he went back on watch.
He said with that visibility, there was no need for a second person on the bridge.
Defence barrister James Leonard KC asked: "You feel okay with that on your own?"
Motin said: "Absolutely," adding he had been on solo watch many times before in similar conditions.
Previously, Motin's defence have said he was aware he was on collision course with the Stena Immaculate via radar when it was nine nautical miles away, and had visual sight of it from three nautical miles.
Once the ship was around one nautical mile away, Motin claims he tried to take the Solong out of autopilot to steer away, but was unsuccessful, the court has heard.
Motin, from Primorsky, St Petersburg, has denied manslaughter and the trial was adjourned until Friday.