The fires on the two vessels, the Swedish Stena Immaculate and the Portuguese-flagged Solong, continued on Tuesday evening, but to a much lesser extent than before. However, reports that the fire had been completely extinguished on the Immaculate were denied by British port authorities.
The search for the missing crew member was suspended on Monday evening.
Our working hypothesis is sadly that the sailor is deceased, said Britain's Deputy Transport Minister Mike Kane in Parliament in London.
British police announced that the 59-year-old captain of the accident vessel Solong had been arrested, suspected of causing another person's death. The owner of the vessel, the German company Ernest Russ, confirmed the arrest and said they were cooperating with the investigation.
"The captain and our entire crew are actively participating," wrote Ernest Russ in a statement.
However, the report that Solong was carrying a cargo of the hazardous chemical sodium cyanide was withdrawn.
Reduced risk
Fears that one of the vessels would sink decreased somewhat on Tuesday; Transport Minister Heidi Alexander said she was "pleased to have been informed that initial indications suggest that both vessels will remain afloat".
The report brought relief, as Deputy Transport Minister Mike Kane had previously said it was "unlikely" that Solong would remain afloat.
The Stena Immaculate was chartered by the US military and was anchored in the North Sea when it was rammed by Solong on Monday. A large tank with jet fuel was punctured, which has contributed to the severe fires – and raised concerns about large emissions off England's northern coast.
The Stena Immaculate had 220,000 barrels of jet fuel for the US military in its cargo, and all crew members were from the USA. The crew on board Solong came from, among other places, Russia.
Environmental alert
A large-scale operation has been launched on the coast, both to bring the Stena Immaculate into harbor and to limit the environmental consequences.
Among others, the environmental organization Greenpeace has warned about the environmental effects.
We are extremely concerned about the many toxic risks these chemicals can pose to marine life, says Paul Johnston, affiliated with Greenpeace at Exeter University.
All vessel traffic in the large estuary of the Humber River, east of Leeds in England, has been paused.
