Oil Tanker and Container Ship Collide in the North Sea

A container ship collided with a U.S.-flagged oil tanker off the northeastern coast of England on Monday, causing multiple explosions on board and forcing the crews of both ships to abandon their vessels. One person had been hospitalized, according to a local lawmaker.

The Stena Immaculate, a 600-foot long oil tanker, was anchored in the North Sea when it was struck by a container ship called the Solong, according to Crowley, the Florida-based company that manages the tanker.

The collision caused a cargo tank containing jet fuel to be ruptured and “fuel was reported released,” the company said in a statement. “The Stena Immaculate crew abandoned the vessel following multiple explosions onboard,” it said, adding that “all Crowley mariners are safe and fully accounted for.”

Tracking data from Marine Traffic, a website that monitors the movement of vessels, showed that the Stena Immaculate was anchored just off the coast of the mouth of the River Humber, near Hull, when it was hit, while the Solong, sailing under the Portuguese flag, was on its way from Scotland to the Netherlands.

Reederei Koepping, a German shipping company that owns the Solong, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The incident happened during daylight hours, raising questions about how the two ships had collided.

Graham Stuart, a local lawmaker, said in a video statement that one person had been hospitalized but said he believed that the remaining crew members from both vessels were safe.

He noted that if the jet fuel leak was able to escape from the tanker in large quantities, “it could have a devastating environmental impact.”

“I’m calling for a unified command structure to be brought in to make sure there is proper accountability for both the human and ecological impacts of this collision,” he added.

Initial images shared by the BBC showed fire and thick black smoke rising from the ships, and local authorities said that in the immediate aftermath, a number of people had been taken to area hospitals.

The British coast guard said it was “coordinating the emergency response to reports of a collision between a tanker and cargo vessel off the coast of East Yorkshire,” and that an alarm was first raised at 9:48 a.m. local time.

Rescue helicopters and lifeboats were deployed, as well as vessels with “firefighting capability,” the coast guard said in a statement.

The coast guard added that it was assessing “the likely counter pollution response required.”

Martyn Boyers, the chief executive of the port of Grimsby East, spoke to Sky News, a British news channel, and said that the area had been foggy on Monday morning, which may have contributed to visibility issues.

“This morning, it’s been very foggy, and the fog has never lifted,” he added. A spokesman for the East Midlands Ambulance Service said it had sent “multiple resources,” including a hazardous area response team, to the port in Grimsby.

Crowley, a U.S.-based logistics, marine and energy company, serves both government and commercial contracts. The tanker had been previously approved to be chartered on a short-term basis to serve U.S. government operations, but it was unclear if it was currently undergoing that or commercial work.