An investigation is underway after a cargo ship carrying sodium cyanide crashed into an oil tanker transporting jet fuel, causing “multiple explosions” in the North Sea off the coast of East Yorkshire.
One person remained missing after the tanker, which can carry tens of thousands of tons of jet fuel, was anchored when the smaller ship struck it, rupturing its cargo tank and releasing fuel into the sea, its operator said. Dozens of crew members were rescued.
The prime minister’s official spokesman said it was an “extremely concerning situation”.
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It is currently unclear how much jet fuel has been released into the water but oil spills in general can harm marine wildlife, kill aquatic organisms and affect fishing and communities if they reach the coast.
Martyn Boyers, chief executive of the Port of Grimsby East, said he had been told there was “a massive fireball”, adding: “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.”
The company managing the Stena Immaculate oil tanker said it was carrying Jet-A1 fuel that spilled into the sea when it was struck by the Portuguese-flagged cargo ship Solong while anchored near Hull.
A maritime data provider said the Solong that rammed into it was transporting a potentially dangerous industrial chemical called sodium cyanide.
How did the crash happen?
A map showing the Solong and Stena’s routes, and where they collided. (PA)
As of Monday evening, there were conflicting reports over the numbers of crew members involved.
Local MP Graham Stuart initially said all 37 crew were accounted for with one individual in hospital. However, the Solong’s Hamburg-based owner, Ernst Russ, said in a statement on Monday evening that only 13 of the 14 Solong crew members had been brought safely shore and that efforts to locate the missing crew member were ongoing.
Both vessels suffered significant damage, Ernst Russ said.
In terms of the collision itself, maritime firm Crowley, which manages the Stena Immaculate, said that its tanker was anchored at the time of the crash and was struck by the Solong.
However, it is not clear how or why the crash occurred, and it could take weeks or even months to come to “come to any proper conclusion”, according to independent maritime safety consultant David Mcfarlane.
“There should be no reason for two ships to collide,” Mcfarlane told the BBC, suggesting that the Solong was travelling at about average speed at the time.
Professor David Slater, honorary professor in the School of Engineering at Cardiff University, said: “There are set routes that ships sail and they are supposed to stick to lanes to avoid offshore platforms, etc.
“One thing that needs to be established is, where was the tanker moored in relation to the appropriate shipping lane?
The company managing the Stena Immaculate said ‘multiple explosions’ had been set off. (PA)
“It will be important to know whether the cargo ship was on the right course or whether the US tanker was incorrectly moored.”
A spokesperson for the Marine Accident Investigation Branch said it had deployed investigators to Grimsby.
When asked if there were any theories on how the crash might have happened, the PM’s spokesman said said: “My understanding is the details are still becoming clear, so I don’t want to speculate on that.”
Which vessels were involved?
The vessels involved are the US-flagged chemical tanker Stena Immaculate and the Portuguese-flagged container ship named Solong.
Maritime analytics website Marine Traffic said the 183-metre-long Stena Immaculate was anchored off Immingham, north-east England, when it was struck by the 140-metre-long Solong, which was en route to Rotterdam.
The Stena Immaculate. (PA)
The tanker was understood to have been carrying more than 20 people.
Stena, operated by US logistics group Crowley, was understood to be travelling from Greece to the Port of Immingham in Lincolnshire, according to data from vesselfinder.com.
The tanker was on a short-term charter to the US Navy’s Military Sealift Command when it was struck, according to a US military spokesperson.
“The collision and ensuing explosions will not impact operations or combat readiness. We do not have a single point of failure,” a US official said.
Two maritime security sources told the Reuters news agency there was no indication of any malicious activity or other actors involved in the incident.
What was on board?
The tanker was one of just 10 enlisted in a US government programme designed to supply the armed forces with fuel.
The Stena Immaculate was reported to have released some jet fuel after sustaining a ruptured cargo tank, Crowley said.
“The Stena Immaculate sustained a ruptured cargo tank containing Jet-A1 fuel due to the allision,” the company said in a statement.
A coastguard vehicle on the scene at the Port of Grimsby. (Getty Images)
According to maritime data provider Lloyd’s List Intelligence, the Solong was carrying 15 containers of sodium cyanide among other cargo.
The container was also transporting an unknown quantity of alcohol, the casualty report – an assessment of incidents at sea – said, citing a message from the local coastguard. Yahoo News has contacted HM Coastguard for comment.
Sodium cyanide, a white crystal-like solids with faint almond odour, is used in industry for metal cleaning, plating and extraction, and photography, and is also used to make other chemicals.
Black smoke billowing into the air after a crash between an oil tanker and a cargo ship off the coast of East Yorkshire. (PA)
While it is usually very unlikely that the general population would be exposed to dangerous levels of the substance, the UK Health Security Agency says exposure can cause headache, nausea, dizziness, nervousness, confusion, changes in heart rate and drowsiness.
It can also cause a loss of consciousness, fitting, vomiting and low blood pressure. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warn that exposure to sodium cyanide can be “rapidly fatal”.
What environmental impact could the crash have?
Local MP Graham Stuart said he was “concerned about the potential ecological impact” this incident could have.
Greenpeace UK said it was “too early” to know the extent of any environmental damage, with a spokesperson for the environmental group saying: “We are monitoring reports of a cargo vessel crashing into an oil tanker off the coast of Yorkshire 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.
East Yorkshire’s coast is home to protected colonies of seabirds including puffins. (Alamy)
“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.”
Mark Sephton, professor of Organic Geochemistry at Imperial College London, added that the relatively small hydrocarbons of jet fuel could be degraded by bacteria more quickly than larger molecules.
“The fact that we are moving into warmer temperatures will also speed up biodegradation rates,” he said.
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Martin Slater, director of operations at Yorkshire Wildlife Trust said it was a “very worrying incident”, adding: “East Yorkshire’s coast is home to protected and significant colonies of seabirds including puffins, razorbills, gannets and kittiwakes. Many birds are gathering offshore on the sea ahead of the nesting season.
“There are significant numbers of Atlantic grey seals in the area, many rearing this year’s young, as well as porpoises and other cetaceans around Spurn.
“If pollution spillage enters the Humber, this could potentially be devastating for the wildlife of the estuary, including important fish stocks and tens of thousands of overwintering and migrating birds who use the mud flats.”
