The freighter hit a tanker carrying jet fuel for US forces off the eastern UK on Monday, burning both vessels and sending fuel into the North Sea.
All 37 crew members on the ship were safe, said Graham Stuart, a local MP who was hospitalized. The collision led to massive rescue operations by lifeboats, Coast Guard aircraft and commercial vessels.
Stuart said he was worried about the “potential ecological impacts” of the spill.
According to ship tracking site Vesselfinder, US class chemical and petroleum product tanker MV Stena Immaculate was at an anchor near the port of Grimsby on Monday morning after a voyage from Greece. The Portuguese-style container ship Solon was sailing from Grangemouth, Scotland, towards Rotterdam, Netherlands, when it struck the tanker’s side.
Crowley, a US-based maritime management company that runs Stena Immaculate, said the tanker “maintained a ruptured cargo tank containing Jet-A1 fuel,” and when the vessel ship struck it, it caused a fire, causing “multiple explosions on board,” and released the fuel into the sea.
All 23 mariners in tankers said they were safe and explained.
Stena Immaculate operated as part of the US government’s Tanker Security Program, a group of commercial vessels that could be contracted to carry military fuel when necessary.
British Maritime and Coast Guard asked at 9:48am about the Humber Coast Guard for fire equipment and ships, and who would help with the search and rescue of about 155 miles north of London.
Video footage, aired by British broadcasters and taken from nearby vessels, showed thick black smoke pouring from both vessels.
Prime Minister Kiel Starmer’s office said details of the conflict and its cause were “still known.”
Abdul Karik, director of the Maritime Centre at Liverpool John Moores University, said the cargo ship crews “have not maintained proper watches through radar” as required by international maritime regulations.
Greenpeace UK said it was premature to assess the extent of environmental damage caused by crashes that took place in busy fishing grounds and was close to major seabird colonies.
Scientists said the environmental impact may not be as severe as a heavier crude oil spill.
“The images look anxious, but in terms of their impact on the aquatic environment, there’s no more concern than whether this was crude, as most jet fuels evaporate so quickly.”
Mark Sefton, professor of organic geochemistry at Imperial College of London, said jet fuels collapse faster than crude oil, causing the rate of biodegradation that is warmer in temperatures.
“Ultimately, it all depends on the rate of fuel introduction and the rate of destruction caused by bacteria,” he said. “I hope the latter wins.”
