Solong and Stena Immaculate: A Complete Analysis of the 2025 North Sea Ship Collision (Full Episode)

This documentary was uploaded at the exact minute the collision occurred exactly one week ago today on March 10, 2025. --- In 2005, the container ship MV Halland was built in Germany. Halland has a length of 140 meters. After being commissioned, Halland operated for the Hamburg-based shipping company Ernst Russ. Halland would operate under the German flag for several years. In August of 2007, Halland was renamed Sleipner. The vessel would operate under this name for nearly a decade without incident. Finally, in April of 2016, Sleipner began serving under the Portuguese flag. The vessel was registered in Madeira and was renamed Solong. While serving under the Portuguese flag, Solong primarily operated on set routes. Solong sailed between ports in Britain, Ireland, Spain, Portugal and Italy. Despite traveling between these countries, the ship’s standard voyage was on the North Sea between Scotland and Rotterdam. During these voyages, it was standard for the ship to travel at high speeds to arrive at her destinations on time. It was standard for Solong to travel at a speed of around 15 knots with approximately 15 crew members onboard. She would continue to operate like this for many years. In July of 2024, while Solong was docked in Dublin, Ireland, inspectors found ten issues about the vessel. For instance, her emergency steering compass was unreadable, her alarms were inadequate and her survival craft was poorly maintained. Despite Ernst Russ’ claim that these problems had been taken care of, these issues were not considered as unusual for ships of the age of Solong. Ultimately, because Solong’s next safety certification is only scheduled for October of 2025, the container ship kept operating on her regular route for the next several months. --- In 2017, the oil tanker MV Stena Immaculate was built in China. Stena Immaculate has a length of 183 meters. The vessel is owned by the Swedish company Stena AB. Stena Immaculate was originally registered in Hamilton. In mid-2023, however, Stena Immaculate was registered in Jacksonville, Florida. Stena Immaculate’s safety certificate was renewed and the ship began to operate under the American flag. The vessel’s next safety certification is scheduled for 2027. Stena Immaculate operated for the logistics company Crowley Maritime. For several months, Stena Immaculate would often sail on the North Sea without incident. However, her luck would soon run out. --- By the morning of March 10, 2025, heavy fog had rolled in the area where Solong was sailing. Despite that, Solong continued sailing at its high speed. As of the release of this video, it has not yet been confirmed why Solong did not slow down its speed. It is theorized that there might not have been anyone in Solong’s bridge. Because this was another routine voyage, it is possible that Solong’s crew thought that there would not be other vessels in the path the container ship had always taken. At approximately 9:30 AM, Solong was nearing the area where the nine docked ships were stopped at. With possibly nobody in Solong’s bridge, the container ship was heading directly towards Stena Immaculate at a high speed. It is not yet clear if the crew of Stena Immaculate saw Solong incoming. Regardless, the docked ship could not have prevented what would happen next. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A huge thank you to Asoka from the Historic Travels Discord Server for providing clarification regarding certain topics mentioned in the documentary. Music used in this video: "Floating Cities" - Kevin MacLeod "Dark Times" - Kevin MacLeod "Long note Four" - Kevin MacLeod "Deep Haze" - Kevin MacLeod "Magic Forest" - Kevin MacLeod 0:00 Intro 0:26 MV Solong 3:56 MV Stena Immaculate 5:48 Final Voyage 10:44 Disaster 14:40 Aftermath 23:11 Conclusion #Sinking #Disaster #MaritimeDisaster #MVSolong #MVStenaImmaculate #Collision #Allision #MaritimeCollision #ShipCollision #ShipAllision #Shipping #CargoShip #ContainerShip #OilTanker #NorthSea #NorthSeaDisaster #FloatingSandbox