Grimsby, UK:
One person is missing after a cargo ship collided with a U.S. military-chartered tanker carrying jet fuel in the North Sea on Monday, raising concerns about "multiple toxic hazards" off the English coast.
Dozens of people were rescued in a large-scale operation coordinated by the UK Coastguard. Images from the scene, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) off the eastern coast, showed a massive plume of thick, black smoke and flames rising from the area.
The Stena Immaculate tanker, "anchored off the North Sea coast near Hull, was struck by the container ship Solong," according to a statement from Crowley, the U.S.-based operator of the Stena. The tanker was on a short-term U.S. military charter with the Military Sealift Command, which operates civilian-crewed ships providing ocean transport for the U.S. Department of Defense, spokesperson Jillian Morris confirmed.
Crowley reported that the collision "ruptured" the tanker, which was carrying jet fuel (A1 type), causing a fire and releasing fuel into the sea. The Solong, carrying 15 containers of sodium cyanide, also sustained damage, though it is unclear if any of the hazardous chemical leaked.
A spokesperson for UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the situation as "extremely concerning." Ambulance crews assessed 36 patients at the scene, but none required hospital treatment, according to Alastair Smith of the East Midlands Ambulance Service.
Thirteen of the Solong’s 14 crew members were brought to shore, while search efforts for the missing crew member continue, said a statement from the ship’s Germany-based owner, Ernst Russ. All crew members aboard the Stena Immaculate were confirmed to be unharmed, a spokesperson for the tanker’s Swedish owner, Stena Bulk, told AFP.
‘Toxic Hazards’
Reports of "fires on both ships" were confirmed by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). A spokesperson for the government’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch said, "Our team of inspectors and support staff are gathering evidence and undertaking a preliminary assessment of the accident to determine our next steps."
Ivor Vince, founder of environmental risk advisory group ASK Consultants, told AFP that jet fuel, unlike crude oil, is not persistent. "Most of it will evaporate quite quickly, and what doesn’t evaporate will be degraded by microorganisms quite quickly," he said, though he warned it could still harm fish and other marine life.
Paul Johnston, a senior scientist at Greenpeace Research Laboratories at Exeter University, expressed concern about the "multiple toxic hazards" posed by the chemicals. He noted that the jet fuel entered waters near a breeding ground for harbor porpoises, and sodium cyanide is a "highly toxic chemical that could cause serious harm."
Humber Traffic Suspended
Associated British Ports (ABP), which operates the Ports of Hull and Immingham, suspended all vessel movements in the Humber estuary, which flows into the North Sea. The German Central Command for Maritime Emergencies also dispatched a vessel equipped for firefighting and oil recovery.
The alarm about the crash near the port city of Hull in East Yorkshire was raised at 9:48 AM GMT. The UK Coastguard deployed a helicopter, a plane, lifeboats from four towns, and other nearby vessels in a large-scale rescue operation.
Grimsby native Paul Lancaster, a former seaman, expressed disbelief at the collision, saying, "I don’t understand how two ships that big could collide. There must have been a massive engineering problem."
Collisions Rare
Collisions in the busy North Sea are uncommon. In October 2023, two cargo ships, the Verity and the Polesie, collided near Germany’s Heligoland islands, resulting in three deaths and two missing individuals presumed dead. In October 2015, the Flinterstar freighter sank after colliding with the Al Oraiq tanker off the Belgian coast, carrying 125 tonnes of diesel and 427 tonnes of fuel oil.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Stay updated with the latest news and developments by visiting our trusted sources. For more news, check out ZTC News and Z News Today. Explore comprehensive coverage, insightful articles, and breaking stories across various topics.