Five Russians were aboard the Solong container ship when it rammed the Stena Immaculate – which carried supplies for the US Army – off the English coast, which caused a fire on both ships.
The Russian captain, 59, was arrested after the incident on Monday by the Humberside police, with his detention extended today to give officers more time to interrogate.
The sailor, which is not mentioned, is allowed to talk to the Russian embassy in London, it emerged today.
State news agency Tass revealed that Russian diplomats spoke with the prisoner captain of the Solong and be in contact with his lawyer and family '.
He 'feels good', although he was arrested 'on suspicion of gross negligence in connection with the collision'. They confirmed that he was a Russian citizen.
All five Russians involved in the North Sea drama are 'alive', according to Russian sources.
The crew of the 459ft Solong was reported as Russian and Filipin, and it is known that one person is missing, supposed to be dead after the incident.
A total of 36 crew members from the two ships were safely brought ashore, without major injuries.
Smoke is seen from the MV Solong freight ship in the North Sea, earlier this week off the coast of Yorkshire
MV Stena Immaculate exploded in a 'massive fireball' after he was hit by MV Solong yesterday
Water can be seen flow through the damaged hull of the immaculate on Tuesday
The American MV Stena in the US spot Stena Immaculate was flooded by a huge fire ball after Solong 'came out of blue' and plowed in.
Solong cut through the tanker hull, causing thousands of Liters to spill aircraft fuel into the sea and forced sailors from both ships to leave the ship.
The Russian embassy in London said earlier: 'The embassy followed the situation around the collision of two ships in the North Sea on 10 March from the first minutes.
'Consular staff is in close contact with the British competent authorities.
“During this time, local authorities did not receive any information about the presence of Russian citizens on board these ships, or about other Russians injured as a result of this accident.”
The Russian Embassy in London said: 'From March 14, additional information has emerged about the Russian citizens of the crew of the Solong ship and flew the Portuguese flag, which collided with the Stena Immaculate tanker that flew the American flag in the North Sea on 10 March.
'According to the shipowner, the Solong crew comprises five civilians of the Russian Federation.
'Among them is the captain of the ship, which was held by the competent authorities of the United Kingdom and is currently being investigated.
The charred remains of cargo ship MV Solong were completely destroyed by Monday's fire. The ship was leader by a Russian national
Depicted is the thick black plume of smoke that hits through heaven on Monday while the fires raged on both ships
'All crew members from Russian citizens live, they have not been injured as a result of the incident and the state of the sailors does not cause any concern.
'On the evening of March 13, diplomats from the consular part of the embassy made a detailed telephone conversation with the captain of the ship.
“According to him, he feels good.
'The Russian citizen is provided with an interpreter and an lawyer, with whom our employees also maintain constant contact.
“The embassy is in close contact with the British competent authorities, including the police station where the captain of the ship is currently being held, as well as with the wife of our countryman.”
With reference to the complexity of the case, the police said that a court had granted them 24 hours to keep the Captain of the Solong in custody, on top of the previous 36-hour extension.
Salvage -companies went on board the two ships on Thursday and carried out initial damage assessments, said the coast guard, adding that small fires were still reported on the upper deck of the Solong.
The police said that extensive lines of research will continue, but it took time since the ships were still at sea and there were a large number of witnesses involved.
A handful of the American crew of the Stena Immaculate spoke about what happened, but asked for not being identified.
They were so close to the flames when they boarded the lifeboat that some sang her. Fortunately, they all survived without serious injury. A member of the Solong crew is probably missing dead.
A crew member said: 'Yesterday was a bad start to the day, but it ended gloriously. Why? All of us left the ship without anyone in it. “Adding that he was” happy to live. “
When asked about his actions immediately after the tanker broke a load of aircraft fuel into flames, he said: “I had time to think. I went through the procedures. Because if I hadn't had time to think, we wouldn't have survived.
'We drilled, we trained, we have prepared for it unprepared. We do non-stop non-stop. Regardless of uncontrollable forces. '
Mariene experts have speculated that the Solong registered by Portuguese was on the autopilot when it was in the tank with devastating results.
The survivor noticed: 'You have to look at the steering machine. And nobody looks at the steering machine.
'It would be as if you were to sit in a parking lot on Sunday morning, read a newspaper or play with your phone, right? And a car comes on the other side of the parking lot. He goes to it, but then he falls asleep or he does something, and the car just goes into the other.
“Who has a mistake? It is clear that they are the fault. That is all I can say. '
Another American crew member told CBS News how the other ship 'came out of nowhere'.
He said that he was near the part of the Stena Immaculate, where the Solong had his impact and that he only had a few seconds to respond when he heard screaming to scrape himself before the impact.
Suddenly a huge ship came out of nowhere, “he said.
Other crew members of the Stena Immaculate described how it seemed as if no one was on the Solong bridge at the time of impact, he said.
After the first impact, the Solong continued to ride in the ship for about 10 minutes.
