The Swedish-owned oil tanker Stena Immaculate collided on Monday morning with a container ship off the British coast. The oil tanker had a cargo including, among other things, jet fuel and caught fire in the accident.
A massive rescue operation was launched immediately, and 36 people on board the two vessels were taken to safety in the nearby port city of Grimsby.
Only one of those on board needed to be taken to hospital, writes Graham Stuart, a member of parliament for the area outside Hull and Grimsby, on X.
On Monday evening, the UK Coast Guard announced that the search operation had been completed. At that time, one person from the container ship Solong's crew was still missing.
Thick Cloud
The accident site was quickly enveloped in a dark, thick cloud of smoke after a massive "fireball" flared up, according to harbor master Martyn Boyers in Grimsby for BBC.
The Stena Immaculate was chartered by the US military and the tanker was carrying highly flammable jet fuel – which led to the violent fire that could be seen from a distance. The container ship was carrying, according to BBC, among other things, 15 containers with the toxic substance sodium cyanide.
Both vessels caught fire and the situation on board the container ship Solong was initially unclear. The tanker was at anchor when Solong collided with it.
Immediately after the collision, efforts were launched to try to limit an environmental disaster due to leaking fuel, which is feared to reach the Yorkshire coast, about 15 kilometers from the accident site.
Hull City Council leader Mike Ross fears a "devastating" disaster and said that a "comprehensive operation" has been launched to try to minimize the damage. He also told BBC that the Humber estuary is "one of the most vulnerable river mouths in the world".
Speed of the Highest Importance
Greenpeace tells BBC that it is too early to say how much damage to nature the accident can cause.
Sea and weather conditions are crucial in assessing how the emissions behave, says a spokesperson for the organization.
When it comes to oil spills or hazardous materials from the container ship involved, it's very much about how quickly the operation is launched to limit the damage.
The Stena Immaculate is one of the few tankers that the US military uses to transport fuel.
