Stena Immaculate, Solong crash in North Sea: Jet fuel, sodium cyanide spills into ocean as ships explode

A hired oil tanker, carrying jet fuel for the United States military has collided with a container ship carrying sodium cyanide in the North Sea, exploding into flames.

The two ships, US flagged tanker the MV Stena Immaculate and Portugal flagged cargo ship Solong, crashed near Hull on Monday, with an alarm raised by the HM Coastguard at around 9.45am local time.

“Solong has collided with tanker Stena Immaculate,” a coastguard authority said in an emergency warning.

“Both vessels are abandoning.

“Vessels who have fire-fighting equipment or who can assist with search and rescue, contact Humber coastguard on channel 16.

“Vessel Stena Immaculate is carrying jet A1 fuel, which is on fire and in the water. Request vessels stay at a safe distance.”

Stena Immaculate was anchored when Solong crashed into it.

An enormous emergency response was launched with rescue boats, specialist ambulance crews, rescue helicopters and additional resources deployed as the ships burst into flames and smoked billowed into the sky.

What were Stena Immaculate and Solong carrying?

As crews began abandoning the exploding wrecks, authorities confirmed highly toxic chemicals were on board both ships involved in the crash.

Solong was carrying 15 containers of chemical sodium cyanide, as well as other cargo. Sodium cyanide is used as a metal cleaner, photography and extraction, and is also used for the production of other chemicals. Exposure can cause cause death in extreme cases.

Fuel, set to be delivered to the US Defence Force was seen gushing into the ocean, with officials quickly saying the failed delivery would not impact military operations.

“The collision and ensuing explosions will not impact operations or combat readiness. We do not have a single point of failure,” the officials say.

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

Local officials said 32 casualties had been met by ambulances but by mid afternoon only one remained in hospital.

Local MP Graham Stuart said he had been told by the transport secretary that 37 crew members were aboard the two ships, and one was hospitalised.

“The other 36 mariners across both crews are safe and accounted for,” he said.

It is understood one person is still missing

What environmental impacts could cargo ship, oil tanker crash have?

Martin Slater, director of operations at Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, said East Yorkshire’s coast was home to protected and significant colonies of seabirds including puffins and gannets, with many offshore on the sea ahead of the nesting season.

The Stena Immaculate was at anchor near the port of Grimsby on Monday morning after sailing from Greece, according to ship-tracking site VesselFinder.

The cargo vessel Solong was sailing from Grangemouth in Scotland to Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

One insurance specialist said the pollution risk, as a products tanker, was less than if it were a crude carrier.

“A lot depends really on cargo carried, how many tanks were breached and how bad the fire is,” the source said.

Mark Sephton, professor of Organic Geochemistry at Imperial College London, added that the relatively small hydrocarbons of jet fuel could be degraded by bacteria more quickly than larger molecules.

“The fact that we are moving into warmer temperatures will also speed up biodegradation rates,” he said.

The incident occurred in a busy stretch of waterway, with traffic running from the ports along the United Kingdom’s northeast coast to the Netherlands and Germany, shipping industry sources said.

Maritime analytics website MarineTraffic said the 183-metre-long Stena Immaculate was anchored off Immingham, northeast England, when it was struck by the 140-metre-long Solong, which was en route to Rotterdam.

Ship insurer Skuld of Norway would only confirm that the Solong was covered with it for protection and indemnity, a segment of insurance that covers environmental damage and crew injuries or fatalities.

- with Reuters, PA and AP.