‘Fireball’: US oil tanker and cargo ship collide

More than 30 people have been rescued after a cargo ship collided with a US oil tanker carrying military jet fuel off the British coast.

A major rescue operation has taken place after a collision between an oil tanker and a cargo ship in the North Sea, off the UK coast, which sparked a huge blaze.

One person was taken to hospital and 36 other mariners were rescued. No one is thought to be unaccounted for from either vessel.

Jet fuel is spilling into the North Sea, however.

Swedish tanker company Stena Bulk confirmed it owned the oil tanker involved in the accident, adding that it was operated by Crowley, a US-based maritime company.

The oil tanker, the Stena Immaculate, is one of 10 worldwide which can supply the US armed forces with fuel in a conflict or national emergency. News agency Reuters reported the ship was on a short-term charter to the US Navy’s Military Sealift Command carrying jet fuel.

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

The other ship, the Portuguese flagged Solong, was carrying among other cargoes, sodium cyanide which has a number of industrial uses.

There are concerns that both the jet fuel and the sodium cyanide could affect marine life.

Reuters has also reported sources as saying “there was no indication of any malicious activity” or any other “actors" being involved in the collision.

Fire and rescue services attend after a collision between oil tanker MV Stena Immaculate and the cargo vessel MV Solong on March 10, 2025. (Photo by Getty Images/Getty Images) (Photo by Getty Images/Getty Images)

Fireball

The Stena Immaculate was almost stationary off the UK coast on Tuesday at around 9.30am local time (8.30pm AEDT) near Hull in England’s north. It was hit by the Solong at a speed on 16 knots.

Conditions were said to have been foggy and hazy at the time of the crash, East Grimsby port director Martyn Boyers told Sky News UK.

“Having said that all these vessels (have) got every, every bit of kit that’s known to man about how to navigate and radars and everything.

“So it’s a very, very unusual and tragic accident.”

He added that the collision caused “a massive fireball”.

A fireball was released by the collision. (Photo by Getty Images/Getty Images)

‘No one paying attention’

Sal Mercogliano, a maritime historian at the US’ Campbell University, was reported byThe Sun as saying the Solong was likely on autopilot at the time of the crash.

“I get a distinct impression here that no one is really paying attention on board Solong.

“One of the things we know that happens on board ships, there’s only two things that cause accidents – it’s either mechanical error or human error.

“In this case the ship seems to be following its normal track line it always does, which makes me think the man on watch is not paying attention to the traffic that’s ahead, got distracted, who knows what happened here.”

The rescue operation was being co-ordinated by the UK Coastguard after “reports of a collision between a tanker and cargo vessel off the coast of East Yorkshire”, a Coastguard spokesman said.

The spokesman added the Coastguard was carrying out an assessment of the likely counter pollution response required.

Images on UK television channels showed a huge plume of thick, black smoke and flames rising from the scene about 16km off the coast.

There were reports of “fires on both ships” that UK lifeboat services were responding to, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) confirmed to AFP.

The position of the two ships off the coast of England near the city of Hull. Picture: Marine Traffic

UK Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said she was “concerned to hear of the collision between two vessels in the North Sea this morning and am liaising with officials and HM Coastguard as the situation develops”.

She also thanked all the emergency services which rushed to the scene.

A Coastguard helicopter, aircraft, lifeboats from four towns and other nearby vessels were part of the large rescue operation, the Coastguard added.

The Stena Immaculate was anchored near its destination, Immingham, near Hull.

It had travelled from Greece loaded with petroleum products, according to Bloomberg.

An Associated British Ports (ABP), which operates the Port of Hull and Immingham, said it was “aware” of the incident and was “assisting” the Coastguard.

A fire engine enters Grimsby port on March 10, 2025 in Grimsby, England. (Photo by Ryan Jenkinson/Getty Images)

Collisions rare

Vessels with firefighting capabilities have been dispatched to the scene off the northeast coast.

Collisions remain rare in the busy North Sea.

In October 2023, two cargo ships, the Verity and the Polesie, collided near Germany’s Heligoland islands in the North Sea.

Three people were killed and two others are still missing, considered dead. The Isle-of-Man-flagged Verity, which was carrying steel from the northern German port of Bremen to Immingham, sank.

In October 2015, the Flinterstar freighter — carrying 125 tonnes of diesel and 427 tonnes of fuel oil – sank after colliding with the Al Oraiq tanker eight kilometres off the Belgian coast on October 6, 2015