Dozens rescued, 1 presumed dead after oil tanker, cargo ship collide in North Sea
Thirty-six crew members were rescued and one is missing and presumed dead after an oil tanker and cargo ship collided and caught fire about 10 miles off the northeastern coast of England early Monday.
The two ships are the U.S.-flagged tanker MV Stena Immaculate and the Portuguese-register container ship Solong, which is drifting and may sink, Reuters reported. Cause of the collision, which took place at about 9:48 a.m. local time, is not known.
The missing crew member is from the Solong, which continues to burn, reported the BBC. Firefighting vessels were on scene with more being dispatched.
The Solong was originally reported to be transporting 15 containers of sodium cyanide, a toxic chemical, but its owners say none of the containers were filled, the BBC said.
Fires are nearly extinguished aboard the Stena Immaculate, which was carrying a container of jet fuel that ruptured in the collision, according to CBS News. An unknown amount of fuel spilled into the sea.
Tracking sites indicated the Solong hit the Stena Immaculate at anchor, the BBC reported. The collision was in a busy stretch of waterway used by ships from ports along Britain's northeast coast to the Netherlands and Germany, Reuters said.
Aircraft, rescue vessels and firefighting ships responded to the collision. A total of 37 crew members were on both ships, CBS said.
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The Royal National Lifeboat Institution said an unknown number of crew members abandoned the ships, the Telegraph reported.
A number of vessels, including container ships and oil tankers, were in the North Sea waterway at the time, according to Marine Traffic, a maritime analytics site, the Telegraph said.
The Stena Immaculate, about 600 feet long, is part of the Tanker Security Program, a 10-ship program of the U.S. Maritime Administration that can provide fuel to U.S. military operations as needed. It anchored off the coast after departing a port near Athens, Greece.
"The TSP will provide the Department of Defense with assured access to 10 U.S.-registered product tank vessels that may be used to supply the armed forces with fuel during times of armed conflict or national emergency," according to the Department of Transportation.
The Solong was built in 2005 and is about 460 feet long. It had left the Port of Immingham in England, and was heading for Rotterdam, the Netherlands, according to NBC News.
This story was updated with new information and a photo.
SOURCE Paste BN Network reporting and research; Reuters; Royal National Lifeboat Institution