Salvage of the two vessels that collided off the Yorkshire coast on the North Sea yesterday is ongoing, with Smit Salvage called in for the tanker Stena Immaculate. One crew member of the container ship Solong remains missing.
Matthew Atkinson, Divisional Commander for the HM (UK) Coastguard, says: ’36 crew members were taken safely to shore, one person was taken to hospital. One crew member of the Solong remains unaccounted for, after an extensive search for the missing crew member sadly they have not been found and the search has ended.’
Also read: Tanker and container ship on fire after colliding in North Sea
Colllision results in fires
The collision occurred yesterday morning, 10 March. The Stena Immaculate was at an achorage near Hull, when it was struck on its port side by the container ship Solong. As a result, fires broke out on both vessels. The BBC reports this morning that the fires on board the tanker appear to be under control at the moment.
The UK’s Maritime Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has already started an investigation into the accident. The cause of the collision is as yet unknown.
Fears of environmental disaster
The Stena Immaculate is managed by Crowley through a joint venture with owner Stena Bulk USA. In 2023, the tanker was selected by the US Maritime Administration (MARAD) to serve in its Tanker Security Program. While under charter on this voyage for the Military Sealift Command, the tanker was anchored while it awaited berth availability at the Port of Killingholme, where it was due to make a standard delivery of Jet-A1 fuel as part of a routine service under this programme when it was struck.
At least one cargo tank containing fuel was ruptured on board the Stena Immaculate as a result of the collision. ‘At this stage, it is unclear what volume of fuel may have been released as a result of the incident,’ states Crowley. ‘At the time it was struck, the 183-metre Stena Immaculate was carrying 220,000 barrels of jet fuel in sixteen segregated cargo tanks.’ Some of the fuel may also have burnt off.
Crowley adds that the company ‘is working closely with response agencies including the HM Coastguard to secure the vessel in a restricted safety area and initiate spill containment response.’
Yesterday, the BBC reported the Solong might have fifteen containers of highly toxic sodium cyanide on board, but whether this is actually the case and whether these containers have suffered damage is still unclear.
Smit Salvage called in
MarineLink confirms Boskalis’ subsidiary Smit Salvage has been called in to salvage the Stena Immaculate, with another (so far undisclosed) company called in for the Solong. The Boskalis spokesperson told MarineLink that ‘four ships carrying foam and extinguishing agents were already en route to put out the fire caused by the collision.’
Martijn Schuttevaer, spokesperson for Boskalis, told the BBC this morning that the two vessels are now ‘disentangled’ from one another, which will make the salvage ‘less complicated’. This means that the salvage crews can begin to assess if the fires on board are out, he added.
Picture: The Stena Immaculate (photo by Kees Torn, Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0).
Also read:Â Ro-Ro ship salvaged from Channel after fire
