A vicious blaze started in the North Sea off the coast of eastern England after a cargo ship collided with a U.S.-flagged tanker carrying jet fuel for the U.S. military.
The collision caused multiple explosions and set both vessels ablaze.
Fuel poured into the water, reports stated.
From the Associated Press:
All but one of the 37 crew of the two ships were brought safely ashore. One crew member from the cargo ship, Solong, was missing, the vessel’s owner Ernst Russ said in a statement.
The ship owner said “13 of the 14 Solong crew members have been brought safely (to) shore.” The owner of the fuel tanker said all 23 of its crew members were safe.
The two ships were still ablaze 12 hours after the collision, British coast guards said. They said they had ended the search for the missing crew member. They confirmed 36 others had been brought ashore, one of whom was hospitalized.
The collision triggered a major rescue operation by lifeboats, coast guard aircraft and commercial vessels in the foggy North Sea.
“Tanker in North Sea collision was carrying US military jet fuel and cargo ship had sodium cyanide on board,” BBC wrote.
CBS News reports:
Crowley Maritime, which operates the U.S.-flagged chemical and oil products carrier MV Stena Immaculate, said the tanker was anchored in the North Sea off the coast of Hull, about 155 miles north of London, when it was struck by the Portugal-flagged container ship Solong.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office said details of the collision and its cause “are still becoming clear.” Abdul Khalique, head of the Maritime Center at Liverpool John Moores University, said it appeared the crew of the cargo ship had not been “maintaining a proper lookout by radar” as required by international maritime regulations.
The Stena Immaculate was at anchor near the port of Grimsby, according to ship-tracking site VesselFinder. The Solong was sailing from Grangemouth in Scotland to Rotterdam in the Netherlands. According to the BBC, the Stena Immaculate was en route from Agio Theodoroi in Greece to Killingholme in the U.K.
It is one of just 10 tankers enlisted in a U.S. government program designed to supply the armed forces with fuel during times of armed conflict or national emergency, the BBC reported. A cargo tank on the ship containing jet fuel ruptured, leaking fuel and a fire broke out, Crowley said.
“The Stena Immaculate crew abandoned the vessel following multiple explosions onboard,” Crowley said. “All Crowley mariners are safe and fully accounted for.”
The company said it was working with authorities to contain the fire and secure the vessel.
WATCH:
