Fires continue to burn in North Sea following yesterday’s ship collision

The search for a missing crewmember from the containership Solong that struck the tanker Stena Immaculate in the UK North Sea has been called off as fires aboard both ships continued to burn overnight.

The 140-m-long Solong, owned by Hamburg-based Ernst Russ, hit the 183-m-long Stena Immaculate while anchored near Hull, rupturing at least one of its cargo tanks containing jet fuel and triggering a fire with fuel “reported released.”

The crews abandoned the ships minutes after the incident took place on Monday morning. The UK coastguard rescued 36 crewmembers from both vessels, with one taken to hospital, while one crewmember of the Portuguese-flagged boxship remained missing.

The crew aboard the Stena Bulk-owned and Crowley-managed Stena Immaculate were confirmed safe and accounted for by both companies. Ernst Russ said separately that 13 of the 14 Solong crew had been brought safely ashore.

“After an extensive search for the missing crew member sadly they have not been found and the search has ended,” said Matthew Atkinson, divisional commander for HM Coastguard.

A trawlerman who was among dozens of small boats that raced to answer to the mayday call described “very scary” scenes as they were faced with “plumes of smoke” and a “really strong smell of burning’”.

“It’s a miracle they didn’t all die,” he told local media. “The fog was pretty horrendous,” he added.

Meanwhile, both vessels remain on fire, raising concerns among experts and environmental groups about the impact on wildlife.

The Solong was carrying 15 containers of sodium cyanide while on its way from Scotland to the Netherlands.

At the time it was hit, the Stena Immaculate was carrying 220,000 barrels of jet fuel in 16 segregated cargo tanks. US-based Crowley said it is working closely with response agencies, including the HM Coastguard, to secure the vessel in a restricted safety area and initiate spill containment response.