Newly obtained video footage has revealed the moment the containership Solong struck the tanker Stena Immaculate off the coast of East Yorkshire on Monday.
The impact and subsequent explosion were captured by Orca AI’s lookout unit Seapod mounted on the tanker Ionic Aspis anchored off the port of Grimsby near the Stena Immaculate at the time of the allision.
The footage from the Ionic Apis is from two cameras, with the day camera showing dense fog, with the accident itself captured on a thermal imaging camera. The Portuguese-registered Solong was sailing to Rotterdam at about 16 knots when it allided with the anchored US jet fuel-carrying tanker, according to AIS data.
“This video footage clearly shows the context of the accident, that is, the fog conditions at the time, while the moment of impact is also shown clearly,” said Yarden Gross, CEO and co-founder of Orca AI.
The video evidence has been handed over to UK authorities investigating the incident, which unfolded on Monday morning just before 10 am, leading to one Solong crewmember missing and presumed dead and the arrest of the vessel’s Russian captain on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter.
Meanwhile, the fire onboard the Stena Immaculate has ceased with no visible signs of smoke or flame after reviews on Wednesday, and the vessel is stable and remains securely anchored, the ship’s manager, Crowley, said in the latest update.
The Solong has been towed to a safe location with “small pockets of fire” on the top deck visible on Wednesday, chief coastguard Paddy O’Callaghan reported.
It remains unclear what volume of jet fuel may have been released from Stena Immaculate as a result of the incident. Crowley said the initial third-party assessment of the vessel indicated “no ongoing release of jet fuel to the water and no sheen on the water”.
“Salvors will conduct onboard assessments of the vessels as soon as they are safe to board,” O’Callaghan noted.
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