An oil tanker containing jet fuel for the US Navy and a container ship caught fire after colliding in the North Sea around 13 miles off the coast of East Yorkshire, near the Humber Estuary.
HM Coastguard and the RNLI sent four lifeboat crews and a rescue helicopter to the scene after the crash was reported to have happened just off the coast of Hull on Monday morning, with a number of crew members said to have abandoned the vessels due to explosions following the crash.
All crew from the oil tanker, the US-flagged Stena Immaculater, which was on short-term charter to the US Navy, and most of the crew of the Portuguese-flagged Solong were later said to be all accounted for and safe, with one crew from the Solong still missing.
US maritime logistics firm Crowley said its vessel, carrying a cargo of A1 jet fuel, had suffered a ruptured cargo tank, with the crew having abandoned ship following "multiple explosions onboard". Jet A-1 is a kerosene-based aviation fuel used for most US Navy aircraft.
The tanker was on a short-term charter to the US Navy under the Military Sealift Command (MSC) program when it was struck while anchored, a US military spokesperson has told Reuters.
The Solong vessel was carrying 15 containers of sodium cyanide, according to a report from maritime data provider Lloyd’s List Intelligence.
A spokesperson for Greenpeace UK, said the organisation was monitoring the reports very closely.
"Both the high speed of the collision and the footage of the aftermath are cause for great concern. Right now, our thoughts are with all those affected by the incident and the emergency services responding to the situation.
"At this stage, it’s too early to assess the extent of any environmental damage. But the magnitude of any impact will depend on a number of factors, including the amount and type of oil carried by the tanker, the fuel carried by both ships, and how much of that, if any, has entered the water.
"Sea and weather conditions will also be important in determining how any spill behaves. In the case of an oil spill or any loss of hazardous cargo from the container ship involved, the speed of the response will also be crucial in limiting any impact."
This morning, the oil tanker STENA IMMACULATE and the container ship SOLONG were involved in a collision in the North Sea.
MarineTraffic data shows that the incident occurred at approximately 09:48 UTC. The 183-metre-long oil tanker was anchored off Immingham when it was struck… pic.twitter.com/AEJCQ4l84K
— MarineTraffic (@MarineTraffic) March 10, 2025