Massive fire erupts as tanker and boxship crash off UK coast

A major rescue operation is underway in the North Sea after a product tanker and a containership crashed and caught fire off the coast of Hull in east Yorkshire, UK.

A US-flagged MR tanker Stena Immaculate was struck by the Portugal-flagged containership Solong while at anchor off the Humber Estuary.

Multiple nearby vessels are on the scene as well as lifeboats, firefighting teams, helicopters, a fixed-wing aircraft, and the coastguard which is coordinating the rescue operation.

A number of people have reportedly abandoned the ships and were brought ashore following the incident that took place at about 09:48 hrs local time.

The BBC cited the chief executive of Stena Bulk, Erik Hanell, as confirming that all the crew on the tanker had been rescued.

The 183-m-long Stena Immaculate, owned by Stena Bulk and managed by Crowley in the US, arrived from the Greek port of Agioi Theodoroi with jet fuel onboard.

Crowley said in a statement on X the vessel sustained a ruptured cargo tank containing Jet-A1 fuel and that it is pouring into the sea, adding also that “all mariners are safe and accounted for”.

The 140-m-long 800 teu Solong, owned by Germany’s Ernst Russ, had been on its way from the Scottish port of Grangemouth to Rotterdam, in the Netherlands.

Details about how the allision happened are still unclear. “The incident remains ongoing,” the UK coastguard said.