According to emergency responders, a container ship collided with a U.S.-spoken tanker on the northeast coast of England. The initial images shared by the BBC show fire and black smoke rising from the ship, and local authorities say many have been taken to local hospitals.
The British Coast Guard said it was “coordinated the emergency response to report a collision between an oil tanker and a coastal cargo ship off the East Yorkshire” and first issued an alarm at 9:48 am local time.
The Coast Guard said in a statement that the rescue helicopters are located in the area, and lifeboats are deployed from many stations on the coast, as well as vessels with “fire-fighting capabilities.”
Although the Coast Guard did not confirm whether an oil spill occurred, it said it was assessing “the possible anti-pollution response”.
Royal National Lifeboat Agency, a charity that coordinates lifeboats around the British coast, said: “After the collision, many people gave up on the vessels and there were fires on both ships.”
Websites tracked from ships, information from marine traffic appears to show Stena Immactulate, oil tankers, and a container ship on an intersection route surrounded by emergency response vessels near the estuary of the Hull River, emergency response vessels near Hull River.
Stena Immaculate at the time of the crash was a U.S. flag ship, which raised questions about how the two ships collided during the day, according to the tracker. According to Ship Tracking, Portugal’s flag Sauron sailed to Rotterdam, the Netherlands along the Portuguese flag under the Portuguese flag on Sunday.
Stena Bulk CEO Erik Hanell, who co-owned Stena Immaculate, told the BBC that all crew members of the tanker were occupied and safe.
Martyn Boyers, CEO of Grimsby East, spoke with UK news channel Sky News and said the area was already foggy on Monday morning, which could have caused visibility issues. He said at least 32 people were taken to Port Grimsby, some of whom were taken to local hospitals by ambulances. It is not clear how many of them were injured.
“There were 32 casualties in total, and there was a group of ambulances waiting to take them to Princess Diana’s hospital, which is something they are still doing now,” he told Sky News. “This morning it was very foggy and the fog never rose. So, I imagine that at that time, when the accident happened, there would be fog.”
A spokesman for East Midlands Ambulance Service said it had sent “multiple resources” to the port of Grimsby, including the hazardous area response team.
This is a developing story. Please check the update.
