A cargo ship involved in a with an oil tanker in the "altered course" just hours before the , a report has found.

The oil tanker and cargo ship that crashed in the North Sea did not have “dedicated lookouts” in what were “patchy conditions”, investigators also found. The Stenna Immaculate, a US registered tanker, was anchored around 12 miles off the East Yorkshire coast when it was hit by the on March 10. The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has released a preliminary report into the incident which resulted in fires and saw 36 crew from both vessels rescued as

One crewman, Mark Mernia, is missing and presumed dead. The Solong’s Russian captain, Vladimir motin, 59, has been charged with gross negligence manslaughter. He is due to stand trial next January.

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The MAIB said: “The visibility in the area north of the Humber light float was reported to be patchy and varying between 0.25 nautical miles (nm) and 2.0nm. Neither Solong nor Stena Immaculate had a dedicated lookout on the bridge.”

It added: “At (7am), Solong's master returned to the bridge and took over the watch as the lone watchkeeper.” The crash, which happened at 9.47am, caused large fires on both vessels.

US tanker Stena Immaculate was approaching the Humber Estuary on March 9 when it was directed to anchor in an area with eight other vessels. The Solong was sailing from Grangemouth, to Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

The report said Solong “altered course” at around 1.30am to a heading of 150 degrees, which is a south-east direction. It maintained this course until the crash except for a "slight deviation" at 3.45am.

Solong was travelling at a speed of about 16 knots when it hit Stena Immaculate, the MAIB said. The report described how the crews of both vessels took “immediate action”.

It went on: “Attempts by Stena Immaculate's crew to fight the fire, and for Solong's crew to locate the missing able seaman, were hampered by the severity of the fire. Both Stena Immaculate and Solong's crew abandoned to lifeboats and were subsequently recovered by the efforts of local boats and emergency responders, coordinated by His Majesty's Coastguard.”

The MAIB said its investigation will analyse “the navigation and watchkeeping practices on board both vessels” and “manning and fatigue management”. It will also look at the condition and maintenance of the vessels involved, the use of the offshore area as an anchorage for vessels waiting to enter the Humber Estuary, and environmental conditions.