Fire on Stena Immaculate out after North Sea collision, says co-owner

A fire on an oil tanker involved in a collision in the North Sea has been extinguished.

US-registered tanker Stena Immaculate and Portuguese-flagged cargo ship Solong collided off the East Yorkshire coast on Monday.

Erik Hanel, chief executive of Swedish firm Stena Bulk, which co-owns the tanker, said the fire had been “very strong for a while”, adding it was still too early to understand the full impact of the collision.

Solong’s owners, the German firm Ernst Russ, said the vessel continued to emit smoke with “occasional reports of flames”.

The Stena Immaculate was carrying 220,000 barrels of aviation fuel spread among 18 containers of different sizes to be used by the US military.

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Hanel said: “We have not got a team on board yet.

“It looks serious but how much structural damage there is we can’t be sure based on the pictures.”

He said the ship was currently anchored at sea and it was hoped a decision on what to do with it could be made over the next 24-48 hours.

“It will be easier to make those kinds of decisions once they can get a team on board to assess the damage,” he added.

Officials said that while there were no visible signs of fire on the Stena Immaculate, there were still small pockets of fire on the top deck of the Solong. Firefighting vessels were continuing to provide support.

Chief coastguard Paddy O’Callaghan said the Solong had now been towed “to a safe location”, while the Stena Immaculate remained anchored in its original position.

Three aerial surveillance flights had taken place on Wednesday and found no indication of pollution on the surface of the water attributable to either of the vessels, he added.

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) said it was leading the safety investigation into the incident, with Portugal and the US acting as “substantially interested states”.

A spokesperson for MAIB said the investigation was focused at present on gathering witness accounts and obtaining digital data.

A detailed inspection of both vessels, along with the retrieval of data recorders, would be carried out when it was safe to do.

Following the collision, the Russian national captain of the Solong was arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter following reports of a missing crew member.

Ernst Russ said it was working on plans to recover the vessel and was assisting the authorities with their investigations.

The company said its thoughts remained with the family of the missing crew member.

Humberside Police said it had begun a criminal investigation into the cause of the collision and was working with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

“Detectives are continuing to conduct extensive lines of enquiry alongside partners in connection with the collision,” the force said.

Both ships caught fire after the collision, triggering a major response from emergency services.

Virginia McVea, chief executive of Maritime and Coastguard Agency, said: “There have been no further reports of pollution to the sea from either vessel beyond what was observed during the initial incident.”

HM Coastguard said 36 people had been rescued and taken safely to shore.

Grimsby-based Windcat, which provides support to offshore wind farms, assisted in the rescue operation.

The company said it had two ships in the area at the time.

“Both vessels were called to assist in the rescue operation,” a spokesperson said.

“They immediately responded and they brought around 17 people involved to safety ashore.”

Ms McVea said the agency was working with salvage companies hired by the two ship owners “to protect the public and the environment to the best of our ability, during this ongoing incident response”.

Whitehall sources have told the BBC there were Russians and Filipinos among the crew of the Solong.

It is quite common for the global shipping industry to use crews from these two countries.

The BBC understands all of the crew on board the Stena Immaculate are Americans who are currently in Grimsby and will be repatriated in due course.

Its co-owners, Florida-based Crowley, said it had been at anchor waiting for a berth to become available at the Port of Killingholme on the Humber Estuary.

The firm added the crash had caused “multiple explosions” on board and an unknown quantity of jet fuel to be released.

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