A massive rescue operation is underway after an oil tanker and a cargo ship collided in the North Sea off the East Yorkshire coast on Monday, sparking a massive fire and injuring 32 people.
According to the BBC, the incident occurred near the Humber Estuary, with HM Coastguard receiving the alert at 09.48 GMT. Multiple lifeboats and a Coastguard helicopter were dispatched to the scene.
The incident, which took place near the port city of Hull, has resulted in 32 casualties being brought ashore, while some crew members remain unaccounted for, according to Martyn Boyers, chief executive of the Port of Grimsby East. Boyers further described the incident as a “massive fireball.”
The vessels involved were identified as the US-flagged Stena Immaculate tanker, which had transported petroleum products from Greece, and the Portuguese-flagged Solong container ship, owned by German company Reederei Koepping, according to Marine Traffic data.
Videos circulating online showed a massive plume of thick, black smoke and flames billowing from the site, located approximately 10 miles (16 kilometers) offshore.
Erik Hanell, chief executive of Stena Bulk, told BBC that all crew members aboard Stena Immaculate were safe and accounted for. Earlier, the RNLI reported “that a number of people had abandoned the vessels following a collision and there were fires on both ships”.
“It’s too far out for us to see – about 10 miles – but we have seen the vessels bringing them in. They must have sent a mayday out – luckily there was a crew transfer vessel out there already,” Boyers said.
“Since then there has been a flotilla of ambulances to pick up anyone they can find. The casualties’ conditions remain unclear,” he added.
The UK Coastguard is leading the rescue operation following “reports of a collision between a tanker and cargo vessel off the coast of East Yorkshire”, a spokesperson told AFP. Authorities are also assessing the necessary counter-pollution response.
Earlier in October 2023, a collision between two cargo ships, the Verity and the Polesie, near Germany’s Heligoland islands in the North Sea resulted in three fatalities, while two others remain missing and are presumed dead.
