One crew member is missing while more than 30 people have been rescued after a cargo ship struck an oil tanker in the North Sea off the coast of England on Monday.
One of the ships was still on fire on Tuesday morning and experts have warned of potentially ldevastating environmental damage. Here is what we know so far.
What happened?
The Portugese-flagged cargo ship struck the larger oil tanker in waters off Hull just before 10:00 on Monday.
The Stena Immaculate tanker had been anchored there after making its way to Hull from a Greek port. The US-flagged ship had been transporting jet fuel for the US military.
The Solong container ship, carrying toxic chemicals, had been making its way south from the Scottish port of Grangemouth to Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
One of its crew members is still missing, with the search called off on Monday night after “an extensive search”, said the British Coastguard.
A total of 36 crew members from both vessels were safely brought back to shore with one person taken to hospital.
An American sailor from the Stena Immaculate described the point of collision to the BBC’s US partner CBS.
He said “a massive ship came from out of the blue” and those on board only had seconds to react. He did not give his name as crew are not currently allowed to speak to the media.
The sailor said flames immediately began erupting from the vessel following the crash.
The tanker crew initially tried to fight the blaze but they realised it was futile- and the decision was made to abandon ship.
Flames were lapping at the crew as they moved onto the lifeboat.
It is still unclear what caused the cargo ship to strike the oil tanker.
One of the men who was on the Stena Immaculate told the BBC the Solong collided with the anchored Stena Immaculate at 16 knots (around 30 km/h).
Data from tracking site MarineTraffic appears to indicate that one ship was moving and the other was nearly stationary when the collision happened.
Martyn Boyers, the chief executive of the port of Grimsby East, told Sky News the area had been “very foggy” on Monday morning, which may have contributed to visibility issues.
Meanwhile a rescuer told The Times the fog was so thick during the initial search that crews could “not see a thing”.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said the Maritime Accident Investigation Branch had begun a preliminary assessment of the incident.
The Solong was reportedly carrying sodium cyanide, which can produce harmful gas when combined with water, but it’s unclear if there had been any leak.
Meanwhile, Crowley, the firm which manages the Stena Immaculate, said it was unclear how much fuel may have been released but the tanker had been carrying 220,000 barrels of jet fuel when it was struck.
At least one tank “was ruptured”, according to the company.