Oil tanker and cargo ship collide in North Sea – Go Health Pro

An oil tanker and a cargo vessel collided in the North Sea, off the northeastern coast of Yorkshire, England, on Monday, March 10, injuring at least 32, according to Martyn Boyers, chief executive of the Port of Grimsby East.

The UK Coastguard said it was responding to the incident and that rescue operations were under way after the incident, with reports of the ships on fire.
“HM Coastguard is currently co-ordinating the emergency response to reports of a collision between a tanker and cargo vessel off the coast of East Yorkshire,” a UK Coastguard spokesperson said.

The alarm about the collision was alerted at 0948 GMT. A Coastguard helicopter, aircraft, lifeboats from four towns and other nearby vessels were part of the large rescue operation, the Coastguard said.

The 32 injured people had been brought ashore and “ambulances are queuing on the quay” following the incident, said Boyers

“The incident remains ongoing and an assessment of the likely counter pollution response required is being enacted,” a Coastguard spokesperson added.

The oil tanker involved in the collision is on fire, two separate sources with knowledge of the crash have told the BBC. Images on the BBC showed a huge plume of black smoke and flames rising from the scene. Vessels with firefighting capabilities have been dispatched to the scene.

Swedish tanker company Stena Bulk confirmed to Agence France-Presse (AFP) that it owned the oil tanker involved in the accident, adding it was operated by Crowley, a US-based maritime company.

“The 183 metre long oil tanker was at anchor off the coast of Humber Estuary when it was struck by the 140 metre long container ship,” reported the website Marine Traffic, which added that the ship was the Solong.

The RNLI lifeboat agency has said “there were reports that a number of people had abandoned the vessels following a collision and there were fires on both ships.” It said three lifeboats were working on search and rescue at the scene alongside the coast guard.

This is a developing story.