North Sea: cargo ship collides with oil tanker

A US-flagged oil tanker, the Stena-Immaculate, operated by the Crowley company, and the Solong, a Portuguese-flagged container ship belonging to the German shipping company Ernst Russ, collided on 10 March 2025. The tanker was at anchor (stationary) in the North Sea off the coast of Yorkshire (England) when it was hit by the cargo ship.

As the situation has been described as “extremely worrying”, all vessel movements in the Humber Estuary have been suspended.

The collision between the two vessels resulted in a kerosene leak, which in turn resulted in explosions and a fire. Video footage released by journalists shows the two ships in the midst of raging flames.

All crew members were rescued except for one member from the Solong, who was reported missing. The search for him has been called off.

According to Lloyd's List Intelligence, the cargo ship was carrying an undetermined quantity of alcohol and fifteen containers of sodium cyanide. The NGO Greenpeace has expressed its deep concern about the multiple toxic risks posed by this incident.