U.S.-flagged tanker, cargo ship in North Sea collision off coast of England, setting both vessels on fire

CBS News

11-03-2025

A U.S.-flagged tanker carrying jet fuel was struck by a cargo ship in the North Sea off the coast of eastern England on Monday, triggering multiple explosions, setting both vessels on fire and sending fuel pouring into the water, officials said. An English port boss said he had been told there was "a massive fireball" following the collision.
Several hours after the collision happened, the cargo ship's owner said one crew member was missing. Efforts to locate the missing crew member were ongoing, the German-based Ernst Russ said in a statement.
Earlier, local lawmaker Graham Stuart said he was told by U.K. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander that 37 crew members were aboard the two ships, with one hospitalized and the other 36 mariners safe and accounted for.
Where did ships collide in the North Sea?
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.
Stuart said he was concerned about the "potential ecological impact" of the spill, whose cause was being investigated by the U.K.'s Marine Accident Investigation Branch.
Meanwhile, business information service Lloyd's List Intelligence said the cargo ship was carrying 15 containers of the chemical sodium cyanide. It wasn't immediately clear if any of the containers were damaged.
A U.S. official confirmed that the Stena Immaculate was carrying cargo in support of the Defense Department, CBS News senior national security correspondent Charlie D'Agata reported. The collision will not impact operations or combat readiness, the official said.
Martyn Boyers, chief executive of the Port of Grimsby East, said 13 casualties were brought in on a Windcat 33 high-speed vessel, followed by another 19 on a harbor pilot boat. He said he was told about the 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."
Erik Hanell, CEO of the Stena Immaculate's co-owner Stena Bulk, told BBC News that the ship's crew consisted of more than 20 people.
Britain's Maritime and Coastguard Agency said the alarm was raised at 9:48 a.m. local time (5:48 a.m. EDT).
The coast guard 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.
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." It said three lifeboats were working on search and rescue at the scene alongside the coast guard.
Video footage aired by BBC News and apparently filmed from a nearby vessel showed thick black smoke pouring from both ships.
Greenpeace said it was "extremely concerned" about the collision, which took place in a busy fishing ground and close to major seabird colonies.
"As more information emerges about what the ships were carrying, we are extremely concerned about the multiple toxic hazards these chemicals could pose to marine life," said Paul Johnston, a senior scientist at the Greenpeace Research Laboratories at Exeter University.
Scientists said the environmental impact might be less severe than with a spill of heavier crude oil.
"Whilst the images look worrying, from the perspective of the impact to the aquatic environment it's less of a concern than if this had been crude oil because most of the jet fuel will evaporate very quickly," said Mark Hartl of the Center for Marine Biodiversity and Biotechnology at Scotland's Heriot-Watt University.
Mark Sephton, professor of organic geochemistry at Imperial College London, said jet fuel disintegrates more quickly than crude oil, and warmer temperatures also speed biodegradation.
"In the end, it all depends on the rate of introduction of fuel and the rate of destruction by bacteria," he said. "Let's hope the latter wins out."