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A cargo ship hit a tanker carrying jet fuel off the coast of eastern England Monday, setting both vessels on fire and triggering a major rescue operation, with one crew member hospitalized, emergency services said.
One crew member hospitalized, remaining 36 crew members accounted for, local MP saysThe Associated Press
· Posted: Mar 10, 2025 8:20 AM EDT | Last Updated: 17 minutes ago
Smoke billowing after North Sea ship collision, social media video shows
Social media video obtained by an AFP News partner shows smoke billowing after an oil tanker and a cargo ship collided in the North Sea.
A cargo ship hit a tanker carrying jet fuel off the coast of eastern England Monday, setting both vessels on fire and triggering a major rescue operation, emergency services said.
Local MP Graham Stuart said he had been told by the transport secretary that 37 crew members were aboard the two ships, and one was hospitalized.
“The other 36 mariners across both crews are safe and accounted for,” he said.
The U.S.-flagged chemical and oil products tanker MV Stena Immaculate was at anchor near the port of Grimsby Monday morning after sailing from Greece, according to ship-tracking site VesselFinder. The cargo vessel, Portugal-flagged container ship Solong, was sailing from Grangemouth in Scotland to Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
U.S.-based Crowley Ship Management, which operates the Stena Immaculate, said the tanker “sustained a ruptured cargo tank containing Jet-A1 fuel,” when struck by the container ship, triggering a fire and “multiple explosions onboard,” with fuel released into the sea.
It said the crew abandoned the vessel following the explosions, and that all Crowley mariners on the tanker were safe and accounted for.
Britain’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency said several lifeboats and a coast guard rescue helicopter were dispatched to the scene in the North Sea, along with a coast guard plane and nearby vessels with firefighting capability.
Martyn Boyers, chief executive of the Port of Grimsby East, said 13 casualties were brought in on a Windcat 33 vessel, followed by another 19 on a harbour pilot boat.
The site of the collision is off the coast of Hull, about 250 kilometers north of London.
Coast guards said the alarm was raised at 9:48 a.m. UTC. The Humber coast guard made a radio broadcast, asking for vessels with firefighting equipment and those who could help with search and rescue to head to the scene.
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution said there “were reports that a number of people had abandoned the vessels following a collision and there were fires on both ships.” Three lifeboats were working on search and rescue at the scene, alongside the coast guard, it said.
Video footage aired by the BBC and apparently filmed from a nearby vessel showed thick, black smoke pouring from both ships.
‘Massive fireball’Boyers, the port chief, said he had been told there was “a massive fireball” following the collision.
“It’s too far out for us to see — about 10 miles — but we have seen the vessels bringing them in,” he said. “They must have sent a mayday out. Luckily, there was a crew transfer vessel out there already. Since then, there has been a flotilla of ambulances to pick up anyone they can find.”
Britain’s coast guard has dispatched rescue operations, including a helicopter (shown here during a training exercise in Dover, U.K., in 2024), following the collision of an oil tanker and a cargo vessel in the North Sea. (Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images)A 2023 memo from tanker manager Crowley shows that Stena Immaculate was part of a fleet of commercial vessels that could be used as fuel transports for the U.S. military under the U.S. government’s Tanker Security Program.
U.K. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said she was being kept up to date on the developing situation.
“I want to thank all emergency service workers involved for their continued efforts in responding to the incident,” she said.
The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) said Monday that the collision merited a “swift investigation” from the Maritime Accident Investigation Branch.
“Our thoughts are with all the seafarers working on both vessels and their families,” Eddie Dempsey, RMT general secretary, said in a statement. “A collision on the open seas is a deeply troubling incident and the resulting fire has international attention.”
Stena Immaculate is shown in this undated photo alongside the Stena Imperative, another member of the Crowley-managed fleet of ships selected by the U.S. Maritime Administration to serve in its Tanker Security Program in a joint venture between U.S. management group Crowley and Stena Bulk. (Crowley.com)The United Nations shipping agency, the International Maritime Organization, is aware of the situation and is checking further, it said.
With files from Reuters and CBC News
