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An anchored tanker carrying jet fuel for the US military was struck by a container ship in the North Sea on Monday, triggering explosions and a rescue operation of the 37 mariners on board the vessels.
The collision, shortly before 10am local time, sparked large fires on both ships. The tanker, the Stena Immaculate, was carrying 18,000 tonnes of Jet A-1, a form of aviation fuel, and suffered a rupture to a cargo tank.
The UK’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency said it had sent rescue helicopters, lifeboats and firefighting vessels to the scene and it was assessing the “likely counter-pollution response required”.
It was not immediately clear what had caused the incident. Maritime safety has significantly improved in recent decades as navigational tools and vessels’ ability to withstand collisions have both improved.
The Stena Immaculate was on a short-term charter to the US Navy’s Military Sealift Command at the time of the collision, the command said.
The charter was on behalf of the Defence Logistics Agency (DLA) Energy, which procures and distributes petroleum products and services throughout the defence supply chain.
Since May 2023, the Immaculate has been one of ten tankers in the US’s strategic tanker programme of vessels flying the US flag and crewed by US citizens, kept ready to move fuel for the US military.
Tracking information from Marine Traffic, the vessel traffic information site, suggested the container ship had ploughed into the Stena Immaculate while the tanker was at anchor.
Graham Stuart, MP for Beverley and Holderness, the area immediately inland from the collision, said he had spoken to UK transport secretary Heidi Alexander and that he understood only one person was in hospital. “The other 36 mariners across both crews are safe and accounted for,” he said.
The Stena Immaculate is managed by Crowley, a Florida-based maritime logistics company. Its registered owner is Stena Bulk Marine Services, based in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Crowley said the Stena Immaculate had “sustained a ruptured cargo tank containing Jet-A1 fuel” after it was “struck by the container ship Solong” and that “fuel was reported released”.
“The Stena Immaculate crew abandoned the vessel following multiple explosions onboard. All Crowley mariners are safe and fully accounted for,” the company said.
According to Marine Traffic, the Stena Immaculate was carrying 18,000 tonnes of Jet A-1 from a refinery in Greece.
Solong’s owner is listed shipping company Ernst Russ, based in Germany. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A report by Lloyd’s List Intelligence, a maritime information service, said that the container ship’s cargo included sodium cyanide, a potentially highly dangerous chemical.
The Department for Transport said in a statement it was working closely with the coastguard to help support the response to the incident.
“We are grateful to all emergency personnel for their continued efforts,” it said.
Alexander wrote on X that she had been “concerned” to learn of the collision and was liaising with officials and the coastguard.
