An important rescue operation was being carried out after a collision between an oil tanker and a cargo ship in the North Sea on Monday, which caused a great fire and left 32 people injured.
The injured had been taken to the ground to receive “in three vessels,” said Grimsby Director Port Martin Boyers AFPadding that “the ambulances were queuing at the dock.”
The operation was being coordinated by the United Kingdom Coast Guard after “reports of a collision between an oil tanker and a cargo ship off the coast of East Yorkshire,” said a coastal guard spokesman. The spokesman added that the Coast Guard was evaluating the probable response of the required counterattacks.
The images on the United Kingdom’s television channels showed a huge penacho of thick and black smoke and flames that rise from the scene about 16 kilometers from the coast.
There were reports of “fires in both ships” to which the United Kingdom’s lifeboat services responded, the Royal National Lifebat Institution (RNLI) confirmed to AFP. There were also reports that “several people had abandoned the ships,” Rnli added.
The international maritime organization confirmed to AFP that “the current approach is in the fire fighting and search and rescue operation.”
The Secretary of Transportation of the United Kingdom, Heidi Alexander, said she was “worried when he heard the collision between two vessels in the North Sea this morning and that I am in contact with HM coastal officials and guards as the situation develops.” He also thanked all the emergency services that rushed to the scene.
The alarm on the collision near the port city of Hull in East Yorkshire was raised at 0948 GMT. A Coast Guard helicopter, airplanes and life boats from four cities and other nearby ships were part of the large rescue operation, added the Coast Guard.
The Swedish oil company Stena Bulk confirmed that she owned the oil company involved in the accident, added that she was operated by Crowley, a maritime company based in the United States.
The tank truck was appointed Stena Immaculate for the online ship tracking service, marine traffic, which said the ship was anchored near its destination, Immingham, near Hull.
Had traveled from Greece loaded with oil products, according to Bloomberg.
The associated British ports (ABP), which operates the port of Hull and Immingham, said it was “conscious” of the incident and that it was “helping” the Coast Guard. The marine traffic shipping tracker said that the loading ship involved was the “Solong” with a Portuguese label, owned by the German company reederei koepepping.
Rare collisions
Boats have been sent with fire extinguishing capabilities to the scene off the northeast coast.
The collisions are still rare in the busy North Sea. In October 2023, two cargo ships, The Verity and The Polesie, collided near the Heligoland Islands in Germany in the North Sea. Three people were killed and two others are still missing, considered dead.
The real of the island of Men, who carried steel from the port of Northern Bremen to Immingham, sank.
In October 2015, the Flinternar freighter, with 125 tons of diesel and 427 tons of fuel, sank after colliding with the oil company to the oraiq at 8 km from the Belgian coast on October 6, 2015.
