The unanswered questions after oil tanker and cargo ship collide in North Sea ...Middle East

Jet fuel has spilled into the North Sea after an oil tanker collided with a cargo ship off the coast of East Yorkshire this morning.

The US tanker Stena Immaculate was hit while anchored by the Portuguese-flagged container Solong, with the impact causing multiple explosions.

More than 30 casualties were brought ashore, after lifeboats and a coastguard helicopter were sent to the scene near Hull.

There are concerns that the pollution could impact wildlife, threatening several protected bird species and a rare seal colony.

Marine accident investigators have been deployed to gather evidence and conduct a preliminary assessment, building a picture of what happened.  

All 37 crew members across both vessels have been brought ashore, according to a local MP.

Graham Stuart, MP for Beverley and Holderness, said he understood that just one person had been taken to hospital.

“The other 36 mariners across both crews are safe and accounted for,” the Conservative added in a social media post.

The Immaculate’s managing company, Crowley, confirmed that all 20 of its crew members were safe.

Fire and rescue services attend the scene (Photo: Getty Images)

Concerns were raised for their welfare after footage showed black smoke billowing into the air from the vessels, with fire visible on at least one of ships.

Lifeboats and a coastguard helicopter were dispatched to the nearby Humber estuary just before 10am.

Martyn Boyers, chief executive of the Port of Grimsby East, said that 13 casualties were initially brought in on a Windcat 33 vessel, followed by 10 on a harbour pilot boat and another nine on a separate vessel.

What caused the crash?

Ship tracking data indicates that the 183-metre Immaculate was practically stationary at the time of the crash, while the Solong was on the move at average speed.

According to Marine Traffic, the oil tanker, which had previously travelled from the Greek port of Agioi Theodori, was drifting at 0.1 knots at 9.48am.

The 140-metre Solong, en route from the Scottish port of Grangemouth to Rotterdam, was moving at 16 knots at 9.45am, when it was just 800 metres away from the tanker.

Minutes later, its speed dropped to 3 knots, in what appears to be the moment of impact. At the same time, the Immaculate moved at 2.5 knots, possibly due to the force of the impact, before coming to a stop once again.

The cause of the crash is unclear at this stage, but it has been suggested that autopilot could have played a part.

Mr Boyers told Sky News: “One of them was at anchor and the other would have set a course.

“They have a thing called autopilot, and that’s what I would suspect has been the issue. If it’s been put on autopilot and there’s no one on the bridge, which would happen, then it’d just go straight on.

“Autopilot just steers a course, they don’t deviate, there’s no bend in the sea.”

Dr Abdul Khalique, head of the Maritime Centre at Liverpool John Moores University, suggested that watchkeepers on the Solong would have spotted the imminent collision if they had been “maintaining a proper lookout by radar”.

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“It can be assumed that the watchkeepers on MV Solong were not performing their duty to ‘maintain a proper lookout by all available means’ as required by international regulations for preventing collisions at sea,” Dr Khalique, who has been using simulators to reconstruct the incident, said.

Preliminary reports suggest poor visibility may also have played a role in the collision, the expert said.

“Although lookout by sight may have been hampered by the poor prevailing visibility at the time of accident, had the watchkeepers been maintaining a proper lookout by radar, they would have spotted this imminent collision threat and taken an action.”

Both ships appear to have remained in contact for around four minutes, Dr Khalique added.

Professor David Slater, honorary professor in the School of Engineering at Cardiff University, said ships are supposed to stick to lanes to avoid collisions.

“One thing that needs to be established is, where was the tanker moored in relation to the appropriate shipping lane?” he said.

“It will be important to know whether the cargo ship was on the right course or whether the US tanker was incorrectly moored.”

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch has deployed investigators to the scene to conduct a preliminary assessment.

Independent maritime safety consultant David Mcfarlane told BBC News more will become clear once investigators recover data recorders from the vessels.

It will take “weeks if not months to come to any proper conclusion”, he added.

The Immaculate is part of a US government program designed to supply the armed forces with fuel when required.

Two maritime security sources told Reuters there was no indication of any malicious activity or other actors involved in the incident.

What is the environmental risk?

Crowley confirmed that a cargo tank on board the Immaculate ruptured during the collision, leaking A-1 jet fuel into the sea.

It is currently unclear how much jet fuel has been released into the water but oil spills in general can harm marine wildlife, kill aquatic organisms and affect fishing and communities if they reach the coast.

Experts say jet fuels are generally less toxic than crude oil spills.

The Solong was also carrying 15 containers of sodium cyanide, however it is not clear whether this has entered the water.

The highly toxic compound has a variety of commercial uses, including for printing, dyeing, and metal cleaning. It is soluble in water and generates a poisonous gas if heated, posing a lethal threat to animals if ingested.

Martin Slater, director of operations at Yorkshire Wildlife Trust said the pollution could be “devastating” to the Humber estuary, putting birds and seals at risk.

East Yorkshire’s coast is home to “protected and significant colonies” of seabirds including puffins, razorbills, gannets and kittiwakes, with many birds gathering offshore ahead of the nesting season, he said.

“There are significant numbers of Atlantic grey seals in the area, many rearing this year’s young, as well as porpoises and other cetaceans around Spurn,” Mr Slater added.

“If pollution spillage enters the Humber, this could potentially be devastating for the wildlife of the estuary, including important fish stocks and tens of thousands of overwintering and migrating birds who use the mud flats.”

The waters north of the Humber estuary are a designated marine conservation zone and a spawning and nursery ground for fish, while the Holderness Inshore is home to eight different types of crabs, starfish, porpoises and foraging seabirds, with minke whales often spotted.

As well as being one of Europe’s most important estuaries in supporting several protected birds species such as marsh harriers and hen harriers, the Humber also acts as an important site in bird migration and the migration of species like river and sea lamprey.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said the crash site was close to the biggest gannet colony in England and warned a leak could be “lethal” to seabirds.

Greenpeace UK said on Monday that it was “too early” to know the extent of any environmental damage, with the magnitude of any impact dependent on several factors including how much of any pollutants had entered the water as well as sea and weather conditions.

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