A cargo ship has hit a tanker carrying jet fuel off the coast of England, setting both vessels alight and triggering a major rescue operation.
A cargo ship has hit a tanker carrying jet fuel off the coast of England, setting both vessels alight and triggering a major rescue operation.
By Jill Lawless
March 11, 2025 — 1.19am
London: A cargo ship hit a tanker carrying jet fuel off the coast of eastern England on Monday, setting both vessels alight and triggering a major rescue operation, emergency services said.
At least 32 people were taken ashore, but their conditions were not immediately clear. The operator of the tanker said all of its crew members were safe.
The US-flagged chemical and oil products tanker MV Stena Immaculate was at anchor near the port of Grimsby on 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.
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US-based Crowley Ship Management, which operates the Stena Immaculate, said the tanker sustained a ruptured cargo tank containing Jet-A1 fuel when the container ship struck it, triggering a fire and multiple explosions. Fuel is reported to have been released into the sea.
The company said all the mariners on the tanker were safe.
Martyn Boyers, chief executive of the Port of Grimsby East, said 13 casualties were taken ashore on a Windcat 33 high-speed vessel, followed by another 19 on a harbour pilot boat.
Britain’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency said several lifeboats and a coastguard rescue helicopter were dispatched to the North Sea, along with a coastguard plane.
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The site of the collision is off the coast of Hull, about 250 kilometres north of London.
Coastguards said the alarm was raised at 9.48am local time (8.48pm AEDT).
Humber Coastguard made a radio broadcast asking vessels with firefighting equipment and those who could help with search and rescue to head to the scene.
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) said there were reports that a number of people had abandoned the ships following the collision and there were fires on both vessels.
It said three lifeboats were working on search and rescue at the scene alongside the coastguard.
Video footage aired by the BBC, and filmed from a nearby vessel, showed thick black smoke pouring from both ships.
Boyers, the port chief, said he had been told there was “a massive fireball.”
“It’s too far out for us to see – about 10 miles (16 kilometres) – 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.”
AP
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