SOLONG pictured on 13 March 2025 (Photo: Maritime and Coastguard Agency)
March 14, 2025
LONDON, March 14 (Reuters) – British police
said on Friday they were granted more time to question the 59-year old Russian
captain of a container ship that crashed into a U.S. tanker earlier this week.
The captain of the Portuguese-flagged Solong has
been held in police custody since Monday following his arrest on suspicion
of gross negligence manslaughter after his ship hit the Stena Immaculate
tanker, which was carrying U.S. military jet fuel.
One crew member is believed to have lost their life in
the incident while 36 other crew members survived and were brought to
shore.
Citing the complexity of the case, police said a court
had granted them a further 24 hours to keep the man in custody, on top of the
previous 36-hour extension.
Salvage companies boarded the two vessels on Thursday
and were carrying out initial damage assessments,
the coastguard said. In an update on Friday, it said there were only
small periodic pockets of fire, which were not causing “undue concern.”
Police said extensive lines of inquiry were continuing
but it was taking time given the vessels were still at sea and there were a
large number of witnesses involved.
“Additional time has been imperative to the
investigation due to the complexities of the incident,” the police said.
Russia’s embassy in London said in a statement shared
on messaging platform Telegram that it had a “detailed telephone conversation”
with the captain on Thursday, and that he was feeling well.
In its Friday statement, the embassy said it was in
close contact with British authorities, including with the police station where
the captain is being held.
(Reporting by Sarah Young and Sam Tabahriti; Editing
by Catarina Demony)
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters
2025.
Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια:
Δημοσίευση σχολίου