Latest news with #LenaAlvling
Al Etihad
12-03-2025
- General
- Al Etihad
Huge fire after tanker collides with cargo ship in North Sea, 32 injured
10 Mar 2025 17:26 London (AFP)A cargo ship struck a tanker carrying jet fuel on Monday in the North Sea, sparking a massive fire off England and leaving 32 people injured, the tanker's operator and authorities said.A major rescue operation was being coordinated by the UK Coastguard as images showed a huge plume of thick, black smoke and flames rising from the scene about 16 kilometres off the Stena Immaculate was "anchored off the North Sea coast near Hull ... (and) was struck by the container ship Solong," the Stena's US-based operators Crowley said in a impact of the collision "ruptured" the cargo tank "containing A1-jet fuel" triggering a fire, with fuel "reported released".The 32 injured had been brought ashore for treatment in three vessels, the Grimsby port director Martyn Boyers told AFP, adding "ambulances were queueing on the quay" in the northeastern English fishing of the crew on board the tanker owned by Swedish shipowner Stena Bulk were confirmed to be alive, Lena Alvling, a spokesperson for the firm told were reports of "fires on both ships" that UK lifeboat services were responding to, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) confirmed to AFP.A spokesman said the Coastguard was carrying out an assessment of the likely counter pollution response required, while a government body probing marine accidents deployed a team to Grimsby."Our team of inspectors and support staff are gathering evidence and undertaking a preliminary assessment of the accident to determine our next steps," a Marine Accident Investigation Branch spokesperson to environmental campaign group Greenpeace, it was "too early to assess the extent of any environmental damage"."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," a Greenpeace spokesperson said. Humber traffic suspended All vessel movements were "suspended" in the Humber estuary which flows into the North Sea, according to the Associated British Ports (ABP).The ABP, which operates in the Ports of Hull and Immingham in the region, added it was "assisting" the Coastguard. The International Maritime Organization told AFP "the current focus is on the firefighting and search and rescue operation".UK Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said she was "concerned to hear" about the collision and thanked all the emergency services which rushed to the alarm about the crash near the port city of Hull in East Yorkshire was raised at 0948 GMT.A Coastguard helicopter, a plane, lifeboats from four towns and other nearby vessels were part of the large rescue operation, the Coastguard cargo ship was the Portuguese-flagged "Solong", owned by the German company Reederei 140-metre-long (460 foot) cargo vessel, left Grangemouth in Scotland and was bound for Rotterdam, according to website Vessel Finder. Collisions rare Vessels with firefighting capabilities have been dispatched to the scene off the northeast remain rare in the busy North October 2023, two cargo ships, the Verity and the Polesie, collided near Germany's Heligoland islands in the North Sea. Three people were killed and two others are still missing, considered dead.
MTV Lebanon
10-03-2025
- General
- MTV Lebanon
Crew of oil tanker alive after collision with ship off UK
More than 30 casualties have been brought ashore after a collision between an oil tanker and a container ship collided off the northeastern coast of England causing a huge fire on at least one of the vessels. All crew are confirmed alive on the burning North Sea tanker, the Swedish shipowner said. "Yes we can confirm that," Lena Alvling, a spokesperson for the Swedish shipowner Stena Bulk, told AFP when asked whether the crew were all alive. Authorities mounted an emergency response and the coastguard agency said a helicopter, fixed-wing aircraft, lifeboats and nearby vessels with fire-fighting capability had all been called to the incident to help. In an email, the chief executive of the Port of Grimsby East said the casualties have been brought ashore with ambulances waiting to take them to hospital in the port town of Grimsby. It was not clear how severe their condition was. The vessels involved are the US-flagged chemical tanker Stena Immaculate and the Portuguese-flagged container ship Solong, according to shipping industry sources. Television images from the BBC showed at least one vessel ablaze with clouds of black smoke billowing into a grey sky. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution, a lifeboat service working on the emergency response, said: "There were reports that a number of people had abandoned the vessels following a collision and there were fires on both ships." The collision took place in a busy stretch of waterway with traffic running from the ports along Britain's northeast coast to the Netherlands and Germany, shipping industry sources said. Stena said its tanker was operated by US logistics group Crowley. The tanker was one of just 10 enlisted in a US government programme designed to supply the armed forces with fuel. Maritime analytics website Marine Traffic said the 183-metre-long Stena Immaculate was anchored off Immingham, northeast England, when it was struck by the 140-metre-long Solong, which was en route to Rotterdam. Two shipping sources said the Stena Immaculate was at anchor at the time of the incident. Ship insurer Skuld of Norway would only confirm that the Stena Immaculate was covered with it for protection and indemnity, a segment of insurance that covers environmental damage and crew injuries or fatalities. Solong's manager, Hamburg-based Ernst Russ, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The United Nations shipping agency, the International Maritime Organization, said it was aware of the situation. Britain's Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said he was "concerned to hear of the collision", adding that he is "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," he added. The UK Coastguard said it was assessing the "likely" counter-pollution response that could be required following the collision. "The incident remains ongoing and an assessment of the likely counter pollution response required is being enacted," a UK Coastguard spokesperson said as rescue operations were under way. A HM Coastguard spokesperson said it is "currently co-ordinating the emergency response to reports of a collision between a tanker and cargo vessel off the coast of East Yorkshire". It said the alarm " was raised at 9.48am". "A Coastguard Rescue Helicopter from Humberside was called, alongside lifeboats from Skegness, Bridlington, Maplethorpe and Cleethorpes, an HM Coastguard fixed wing aircraft, and nearby vessels with fire-fighting capability," it said. It added that the incident "remains ongoing".
