LONDON — On Monday, a cargo ship was involved in a collision with a tanker carrying jet fuel for the U.S. military off the coast of eastern England, resulting in a fire on both vessels and jet fuel spilling into the North Sea.
All but one of the 37 crew members from the two ships were safely rescued and brought ashore. The cargo ship, identified as Solong, reported that one crew member remained missing, according to a statement from the ship’s owner, Ernst Russ.
In the statement, Ernst Russ confirmed that “13 of the 14 Solong crew members have been brought safely (to) shore.” Meanwhile, all 23 crew members of the fuel tanker were reported to be safe.
The blaze on both vessels continued for 12 hours following the collision, according to British coast guards. They concluded the search for the missing crew member after confirming 36 others were rescued, with one requiring hospitalization after being brought ashore.
The collision prompted a substantial rescue operation that involved lifeboats, coast guard aircraft, and commercial ships amid the dense fog blanketing the North Sea.
The British government announced an evaluation of “any counter-pollution response which may be required over the coming days.” At the same time, the Marine Accident Investigation Branch began probing the cause of the collision.
The Stena Immaculate, a U.S.-flagged chemical and oil products tanker, was anchored near Grimsby port after its journey from Greece, as per data on VesselFinder. The incident involved the Portugal-flagged Solong container ship, which was en route from Grangemouth in Scotland to Rotterdam in the Netherlands when it struck the tanker.
The maritime management firm Crowley, based in the U.S., reported that the Stena Immaculate’s cargo tank containing Jet-A1 fuel was ruptured when impacted by the container ship, subsequently igniting a fire and causing “multiple explosions onboard,” leading to fuel spillage into the marine environment.
Operating under the U.S. government’s Tanker Security Program, the Stena Immaculate is part of a fleet of commercial vessels ready to transport military fuel when required.
The Solong’s cargo included sodium cyanide, known for releasing harmful gas when in contact with water, though no leaks have been confirmed, according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence.
The incident was first reported at 9:48 a.m. GMT, as per Britain’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency. Consequently, Humber Coast Guard requested the assistance of vessels with firefighting capabilities, in addition to those able to participate in search and rescue efforts, at a site approximately 155 miles north of London.
Televised footage by British networks depicted thick clouds of black smoke rising from both vessels.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office emphasized that detailed information regarding the collision and its underlying cause remains under investigation.
Abdul Khalique, a leader at the Maritime Center at Liverpool John Moores University, suggested that the cargo ship’s crew may have failed to “maintain a proper lookout by radar,” breaching international maritime regulations.
Greenpeace U.K. remarked that it was premature to gauge the environmental damage possibly inflicted by the collision, which transpired near active fishing waters and significant seabird habitats.
Environmental scientists indicated that the potential environmental impact might be less severe compared to a heavy crude oil spill.
“Although the images are concerning, from an aquatic environmental standpoint, it’s less alarming than a spill of crude oil because most jet fuel will evaporate swiftly,” explained Mark Hartl from Heriot-Watt University’s Center for Marine Biodiversity and Biotechnology in Scotland.
Mark Sephton, Professor of Organic Geochemistry at Imperial College London, added that jet fuel dissipates more rapidly than crude oil, with biodegradation being accelerated by warmer temperatures.
“Ultimately, the outcome relies on the balance between fuel introduction and bacterial decomposition,” he mentioned. “Hopefully, the latter will prevail.”