Latest update on North Sea accident involving tanker and container ship

With one seafarer aboard the ‘Solong’ reported missing feared dead following Monday’s allision of the 800 TEU container ship with the 49,000 dwt tanker ‘Stena Immaculate’, the 59-year-old master of the Portuguese-flagged boxship owned by Ernst Russ of Hamburg has been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter. 

Crowley, manager of the Stena Immaculate, has issued a latest update on the situation saying that it continues to work closely with U.K. agencies to support the incident response, salvage and environmental impact mitigation operations.

A fire onboard the Stena Immaculate has greatly diminished with no visible flames. Crowley is continuing to assist response efforts led by the U.K. Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA). The vessel is stationary at anchor and being monitored by Crowley representatives, partners and government authorities, and we are working alongside partners during initial salvage activities.

In the meantime, Crowley says it is prioritising supporting the health and wellbeing of its mariners in Grimsby and the response effort to mitigate environmental threats.

It remains uncertain at this time what volume of fuel may have been released as a result of the incident, but initial review shows impacts have been limited due to exposure to the fire and evaporation of the Jet A1 fuel. In addition, U.K agencies are closely monitoring air quality and any possible public health impacts resulting onshore. Both are currently measuring low or within normal levels.

Authorities continue to investigate the cause of the incident and its impacts, and Crowley says it defers to them for any question about the cause.