London, May 30 (AP) The Russian captain of a cargo ship that collided with a US tanker in the North Sea pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter of one of his crew at a UK court hearing on Friday.

Vladimir Motin, 59, from St Petersburg, appeared by video link from prison for the pretrial hearing at London's Central Criminal Court. Assisted by a Russian interpreter, he denied a charge of gross manslaughter over the death of 38-year-old Mark Angelo Pernia.

Also Read | US Shooting: 7 Injured in Gunfire at Park in Washington State, Police Say 'Dispute Between 2 Groups Escalated to Gunshots'.

Motin was ordered detained until his next hearing, and his trial was set for January 12.

The Portugal-flagged cargo ship Solong was traveling at about 28 kph when it hit the anchored tanker MV Stena Immaculate about 19 kilometres off the coast of northeast England on March 10, sparking a fire that lasted nearly a week. The tanker was transporting jet fuel for the US military.

Also Read | Earthquake in Myanmar: Quake of Magnitude 4.2 on Richter Scale Hits Asian Country.

Rescuers saved 36 people from both ships. Pernia, from the Philippines, is missing and presumed dead.

UK authorities have said that there's nothing to indicate that the collision was connected to national security.

Environmental damage from the collision was far less than initially feared, though thousands of pellets used in plastics production, known as nurdles, from the ruptured containers on the Solong have since washed up along England's east coast.

Conservationists say the nurdles aren't toxic, but can harm animals if ingested. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)