A Russian national was revealed to be the captain of the cargo ship that collided with an American tanker off the coast of England, spilling U.S. military jet fuel into the sea.

Fears of an environmental disaster eased on Wednesday, two days after a container ship ploughed into a stationary U.S. fuel tanker off northeast England, as the vessel's owner said the detained captain was a Russian national.

The captain of a cargo ship that collided with a U.S. tanker is a Russian national who remains in U.K. police custody, the vessel’s owner said Wednesday, as it emerged that the ship failed several safety checks last year.