Captain of cargo ship that collided with oil tanker revealed to be Russian as US refuses to rule out foul play

The captain of Portuguese-flagged cargo ship Solong which crashed into an oil tanker is a Russian national, the vessel's German owner Ernst Russ has said.

He was arrested yesterday (11 March) in connection to the crash with a US-flagged tanker, the Stena Immaculate.

Police stated that the 59-year-old remains in custody.

On Monday morning (10 March), a collision between an oil tanker, the Stena Immaculate, and a cargo ship, Solong, took place off the coast of the UK.

Both ships burst into flames just before 10am, near the coast of east of Hull, North Yorkshire.

The coastguard has confirmed that 36 people were brought ashore, while one was taken to hospital - but the search has now been called off, even though one crew member is still missing.

Following the arrest of the man, Humberside police confirmed that he was taken in on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter, as a criminal investigation had begun.

"Following inquiries undertaken by my team, we have arrested a 59-year-old man on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter in connection with the collision," a spokesperson for Humberside Police said in a statement (via BBC).