North Sea latest: Tanker and cargo ship collide in North Sea - with more than 30 casualties reported and vessels on fire

Sky News

10-03-2025

Autopilot could have led to crash, port chief says
Autopilot could have led to the crash between the container and the tanker in the North Sea, a port chief has told Sky News.
In our 2.12pm post, we brought you some comments from Martyn Boyers, chief executive of the Port of Grimsby East, as he spoke to Kamali Melbourne.
During the interview, he was asked about tracking software which showed the Solong heading for the seemingly stationary Stena Immaculate before the collision, raising questions of what took place.
He said it might have been a case of autopilot: "One of them was at anchor and the other would have set a course.
"They have a thing called autopilot, and that's what I would suspect has been the issue.
"If it's been put on autopilot and there's no one on the bridge, which could happen, then it'd just go straight on.
"Autopilot just steers a course, they don't deviate, there's no bend in the sea.
"They just go straight for miles, hundreds of miles, and it would've gone in a straight direction.
"It's difficult to understand what happened, or why it happened."
He added there would've been alarms on the bridge, which raised even more questions about how the collision unfolded.
Images reveal damage to US-flagged tanker engulfed in flames
By Olive Enokido-Lineham, OSINT producer
Images obtained by Sky News show the US-flagged tanker Stena Immaculate on fire. One photo appears to show large plumes of smoke appearing from the port side of the ship.
Another image taken by the same person shows the bow of the Stena Immaculate in flames. In the image above, the helm does not appear to be on fire, but the bow of the ship is completely covered by smoke.
We used historical images of the vessel and compared them to the images we obtained to determine some of the areas of the Immaculate that have sustained damage.
According to the Stena Bulk website, the Immaculate was built in 2017 and is 183m long. It's operated by a shipping company based in the US called Crowley Maritime.
The American tanker was at anchor, according to ship tracking tool Vesselfinder.
Port chief says all 32 casualties were brought in alive
A port chief has told Sky News that all of the 32 casualties brought in were alive when they arrived at his port.
Martyn Boyers, chief executive of the Port of Grimsby East, said he was told to ready his port at around 11am.
"We were put on standby around about 11 o'clock to receive casualties - not knowing what condition they were in," he told our presenter Kamali Melbourne.
He said the first boat arrived with 13 people on board - an off-shore windfarm vessel that had been in the vicinity when the crash took place.
Then two other vessels followed shortly after, bringing the rest of the casualties.
He continued: "There was a line of ambulances waiting to take them to the Princess Diana hospital.
"They were alive. We didn't see [more] the area was sectioned off by police. I do know that they were all alive."
Ambulance service on scene in Grimsby
We've just heard from the East Midlands Ambulance Service - here's their statement in full:
We received a call at 11.28am on Monday 10 March to North Quay in Grimsby.
We've sent multiple resources, including our Hazardous Area Response Team, and we are currently still on scene.
Tanker may have been carrying highly flammable jet fuel
There have been claims circulating on social media that the oil tanker may have been carrying jet fuel.
A maritime risk expert has just told us that's also his understanding, although it's known for certain yet.
Joshua Hutchinson, a managing director at maritime risk firm Ambrey, told our presenter Jayne Secker this could indicate it is a vessel used for military supply - as we reported at 13:47.
"From my understanding, there is jet fuel [on board] which makes it extremely flammable," he said.
This indicates, he added, that it would have been a tanker "actively used" to supply "potentially military assets".
The size of the ship - 183m in length and 32m in width - would also suggest it has capacity for a huge amount of jet fuel.
It's not known how many tonnes may have been on board, but he said it could potentially hold at least 100,000.
More images from the scene
We're now able to bring you more images of the aftermath of the crash.
It's not clear which vessel is which in these photos, but the extent of the damage is clear.
Tanker part of programme to supply US army with oil 'in times of need'
The tanker involved in the crash was part of a programme to have ten ships capable of transporting oil for the US army in "times of need", according to the American Maritime Officers.
The group said the Stena Immaculate was reflagged in August 2023, as part of a programme by the US Department of Defence and the US Maritime Administration.
The programme was to comprise of a commercial fleet of ten ships ready to transport supplies "in times of need" for the US.
They would continue commercial operations but could be chartered by the US government on a short-term basis.
It isn't known whether the Stena Immaculate was chartered under the programme at the time of the crash or not.
Total of 32 casualties reported
The chief executive of the Port of Grimsby East, Martyn Boyers, has just told us 32 casualties have been brought in so far.
Of those, 13 people were brought in on a first vessel, followed by ten casualties on a pilot boat operated by Associated British Ports, which owns the Port of Immingham.
Then a third vessel brought in nine casualties on another pilot boat.
We don't yet know the extent of the injuries.
It would have taken an hour to raise the anchor, says expert
We've just been speaking to a maritime safety expert, who has told us that both ships would have been obliged to do what they can to avoid a collision.
That means even if one were to disobey regulations, the other would still be expected to get out of the way or take other action.
David McFarlane, director of Maritime Risk and Safety Consultants Ltd, told our presenter Jayne Secker it's rare for 100% of the blame to be placed on just one vessel.
It's believed one of the ships - the Stena Immaculate - was anchored at the time, meaning it was still.
It can take an hour to raise the anchor, he added, which may not have given enough time to get out of the way.
"Generally speaking, it might be 90%, 10% blame, or it could be even 50-50," he said.
"Reading between the lines in this case, if that tanker was remaining at anchor, as it's been reported, then obviously she's got a very limited liability.
"There's not a lot you can do apart from picking up the anchor, which can take almost up to an hour to do, by which time... the apparent collision is probably well and truly past."
As MacFarlane points out, it's too early to speculate on any cause behind the collision and we still do not know what exactly happened.
McFarlane also told us: There may have been upwards of 40 people on board, though he can't know for certain;
The vessels should have been visible to each other from ten miles away;
Through radar systems - which both ships should have - they should have been visible from 24 miles out;
All vessels should have someone on lookout at all times;
It's unusual for a ship to hit another while at anchor;
But there are up to 300 collisions at sea each year.
Transport secretary 'concerned' and working with coastguard
We've had a statement through from the transport secretary, who says she is "concerned".
Heidi Alexander wrote on X: "I'm concerned to hear of the collision between two vessels in the North Sea this morning and am liaising with officials and HM Coastguard as the situation develops.
"I want to thank all emergency service workers involved for their continued efforts in responding to the incident."