Horror moment ‘missing crewman’ is caught in fireball explosion as cargo ship ploughs into oil tanker off UK coast

THIS is the horror moment a missing crewman was caught in a fireball explosion as two vessels crashed in the North Sea.

Portuguese-registered container ship on March 10 about 12 miles off the coast of East .

Images released in the Marine Accident Branch's (MAIB) preliminary report show the moment of impact.

Filipino national Mark Pernia was reported to be in the Solong's forecastle area at the time of the collision.

The blue forward part of the upper deck of the ship can be seen smashing into the Stena Immaculate at 9.47am

The CCTV stills show the blast coming through the forecastle causing large fires on both vessels.

and is believed to have died in the accident.

It comes as investigators said there was no “dedicated lookout” on the two vesselslast month in “patchy conditions”.

Stena Immaculate was anchored five miles north of navigational aid the Humber light float.

The preliminary report read: “The visibility in the area north of the Humber light float was reported to be patchy and varying between 0.25 nautical miles (nm) and 2.0nm.

“Neither Solong nor Stena Immaculate had a dedicated lookout on the bridge.

“At (7am), Solong's master returned to the bridge and took over the watch as the lone watchkeeper.”

A watchkeeper is responsible for the safe navigation of a vessel whereas the role of lookout is to continuously watch the sea.

US tanker Stena Immaculate was approaching the Humber Estuary on March 9 when it was directed to anchor in an area with eight other vessels.

Portuguese registered Solong was sailing from Grangemouth, , to Rotterdam, the .

The report said Solong “altered course” at about 1.30am to a heading of 150 degrees, which is a south-east direction.

It maintained this course until the crash except for a “slight deviation” at 3.45am.

Solong was travelling at a speed of about 16 knots when it hit Stena Immaculate, the MAIB said.

The report described how the crews of both vessels took “immediate action”.

It went on: “Attempts by Stena Immaculate's crew to fight the fire, and for Solong's crew to locate the missing able seaman, were hampered by the severity of the fire.

“Both Stena Immaculate and Solong's crew abandoned to lifeboats and were subsequently recovered by the efforts of local boats and emergency responders, co-ordinated by His Majesty's Coastguard.”

The MAIB said its investigation will analyse “the navigation and watchkeeping practices on board both vessels”, and “manning and fatigue management”.

It will also look at the condition and maintenance of the vessels involved, the use of the offshore area as an anchorage for vessels waiting to enter the Humber Estuary and environmental conditions.

A total of 36 people were rescued from the ships following the incident.

Solong's captain, Vladimir Motin, 59, of St Petersburg, , has appeared at Magistrates' and ‘s Old Bailey charged with gross negligence manslaughter and was remanded in custody.

He is due to stand trial in January 2026.

Following the collision, thousands of plastic pellets used in plastics production, known as nurdles, were released from ruptured containers on Solong and began washing up on beaches on the coast.

According to conservationists, the nurdles are not toxic but can harm animals if ingested.

Solong was towed to Aberdeen, arriving on March 28.

Crowley, the maritime company managing Stena Immaculate, said last week the vessel would be towed to in early April.