A container ship hit a stationary U.S.-flagged oil tanker on Monday, causing explosions on board and forcing the crews to abandon ship.
One crew member from a container ship was missing after the vessel collided with a U.S.-flagged oil tanker off the northeastern coast of England on Monday, causing multiple explosions and forcing the crews of both ships to abandon their vessels.
The Stena Immaculate, a 600-foot long oil tanker, was anchored in the North Sea when it was struck by a container ship called the Solong, according to Crowley, the Florida-based company that manages the tanker.
The collision caused a cargo tank containing jet fuel to be ruptured and “fuel was reported released,” the company said in a statement. “The Stena Immaculate crew abandoned the vessel following multiple explosions onboard,” it said, adding that “all Crowley mariners are safe.”
Ernst Russ, a Hamburg-based shipping company that owns the Solong, said in a statement that both ships had sustained serious damage and that one of its 14 crew members was missing.
“Efforts to locate the missing crew member are ongoing,” the company said in an emailed statement.
Later on Monday night, Britain’s coast guard said in a statement that “after an extensive search for the missing crew member, sadly they have not been found and the search has ended.” It added that both vessels remained on fire.
Tracking data from Marine Traffic, a website that monitors the movement of vessels, showed that the Stena Immaculate was anchored just off the coast of the mouth of the River Humber, near Hull, when it was hit, while the Solong, sailing under the Portuguese flag, was on its way from Scotland to the Netherlands.