A 59-year-old has been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter after a cargo ship smashed into a fuel tanker in the North Sea.
The US-flagged MV Stena Immaculate was engulfed by a huge fireball after Portuguese ship MV Solong ‘came out the blue’ and ploughed into it.
Solong sliced through the hull of the tanker, causing thousands of litres of jet fuel to spill into the sea off the East Yorkshire coast on Monday.
Sailors from both of the doomed vessels were forced to abandon ship, with 36 safely making it back to shore.
However, one sailor on the Solong is missing and presumed dead, with emergency crews now launching a ‘recovery mission’ to find the mariner’s body.
Humberside Police said it had launched a criminal investigation into the cause of the collision, along with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.
The Marine Accident Investigation Branch is also making an early assessment to establish the causes of the dramatic crash.
Detective chief superintendent Craig Nicholson said: ‘Humberside Police have taken primacy for the investigation of any potential criminal offences which arise from the collision between the two vessels.
‘Following inquiries undertaken by my team, we have arrested a 59-year-old man on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter in connection with the collision – this follows the conclusion of search operations by HM Coastguard for the missing crew member of the Solong.
‘Our thoughts are with the family of the missing crew member, and I have appointed Family Liaison Officers to make contact and provide support to the family.’
News of the arrest comes after a survivor of Monday’s horrifying jet fuel tanker smash relived his crew’s life-or-death escape as their ship exploded around them after being hit by a cargo vessel.
Some of the crewmen escaped death by seconds as the US military oil tanker burst into a fireball, it was revealed today.
Recalling the terrifying maritime crash and aftermath, a survivor of the Stena Immaculate said: ‘It was either get into your life jacket or get incinerated.’
The 36 survivors of the tanker and cargo ship Solong, which inexplicably smashed into the side of it, were recovering at hotels in Grimsby today as a full investigation began.
A handful of the American crew of the Stena Immaculate spoke about what happened but asked not to be identified.
They were so close to the flames as they boarded the lifeboat that some suffered singed hair. Thankfully all survived without serious injury. One member of the Solong crew is missing presumed dead.
One crewman said: ‘Yesterday was a bad start to the day, but it ended gloriously. Why? All 23 of us got off the ship without anybody being in it.’ Adding that he was ‘pleased to be alive.’
Asked about his actions immediately after the tanker carrying a cargo of jet fuel burst into flames, he said: ‘I did have time to think. I ran through the procedures. Because if I hadn’t had time to think, we wouldn’t have survived. We drilled, we trained, we prepared for the unprepared. We do emergency prep non-stop. Regardless of outside uncontrollable forces.’
Another American crewman told CBS news how the other ship ‘came from out of the blue.’
He said he was near the section of the Stena Immaculate where the Solong made its impact and that he had only seconds to react when he heard shouts to brace before impact.
All of a sudden ‘a massive ship came from out of the blue,’ he said.
The Solong continued to drive into the ship for about 10 minutes after initial impact.
Other crew members from the Stena Immaculate described how it appeared as if no one was on the bridge of the Solong at the moment of impact, he said.
Flames erupted and the Stena Immaculate crew put on protective gear and briefly tried to fight the fire before the decision to abandon ship was made.
Crew members went to their rooms to gather essential belongings, also grabbing life jackets and emergency gear.
He said the crew went to the mustering point and a warning sound was made for all crew members.
When it was verified that everyone was onboard the lifeboat, they launched. The captain was the last person to leave the Stena, he told CBS.
The man described flames lapping at the crew as they boarded the lifeboat, and said some of the sailors even had singed hair because the fire was so close. He said they couldn’t have waited any longer to get off the vessel, and the whole incident from impact to evacuation lasted about 30 minutes.
He said it was a ‘textbook’ evacuation.
It is understood that US Coastguard officials will be in Grimsby tomorrow to begin their own investigation and interview all the crew members.
The operating in the North Sea is currently focusing on the ‘salvage’ stage and will focus on the investigation into what went wrong later.
There were fears that the Solong may have been carrying a cargo of sodium cyanide that could have caused catastrophic damage to marine life.
However, the shipping company owner Ernst Russ clarified there were only empty containers that was previously used to transport the ‘hazardous chemical.’
Ernst Russ said in a statement: ‘We are able to confirm that there are no containers onboard ladened with sodium cyanide, as has been misreported.
‘There are four empty containers that have previously contained the hazardous chemical, and these containers will continue to be monitored.’
Transport minister Mike Kane said the fire on Stena Immaculate ‘appears to be extinguished’, but Solong ‘continues to burn’.
He told MPs: ‘Although they became attached to each other during the collision, the Solong broke free of the Stena Immaculate late last night and began drifting southwards.
‘Modelling suggests that should the Solong remain afloat, it’ll remain clear of land for the next few hours.
‘The assessment of His Majesty’s Coastguard is, however, that it is unlikely the vessel will remain afloat.
‘Tugboats are in the vicinity to ensure that the Solong remains away from the coast and to respond as the situation develops.’
Efforts to find a missing crew member from Solong ended on Monday night after ‘an extensive search’.
Mr Kane said the Government’s ‘working assumption’ is one crew member from Solong has died, after a search and rescue operation was ended on Monday night.
He added: ‘Our thoughts are with the sailor’s loved ones at this time.’
The maritime company managing Stena Immaculate, Crowley, said the vessel was struck by Solong while anchored off the coast of Hull, causing ‘multiple explosions’ on board and an unknown quantity of Jet A-1 fuel to be released.
Crowley said Stena Immaculate was carrying 220,000 barrels of jet fuel in 16 segregated cargo tanks when it was struck.
At least one tank ‘was ruptured’, according to the company.
The tanker was operating as part of the US government’s Tanker Security Programme, a group of commercial vessels that can be contracted to carry fuel for the military when needed.
It had been anchored while waiting for a berth to become available at the Port of Killingholme, on the River Humber, Crowley said.
The Solong is currently adrift off three miles off the coast of Mablethorpe, in Lincolnshire.
Meanwhile, fears continue to mount over the potential environmental catastrophe that could be caused by the crash.
Experts fear the spill could take ‘weeks or longer’ to clean up with harmful waste expected to wash up on parts of the eastern coast of England in the coming days.
HM Coastguard said in a statement its counter pollution and salvage team is ‘developing a plan ready for implementation as soon as the situation allows’.
It added the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has confirmed that air quality at ground level is ‘currently within normal levels for the weather conditions’, and the UK Health Security Agency has advised that any public health risk on shore is ‘currently deemed to be very low’.
In a statement on Tuesday afternoon, Graham Stuart, MP for Beverley and Holderness, said there was ‘no evidence so far of any of the heavy engine oil leaking from either ship’.
He added that no containers appear to have fallen from the stricken cargo vessel, Solong, and that the 227,000 barrels of jet oil carried by the Immaculate had appeared to have ‘burnt off’.
‘Because of its purity it’s expected to leave no residue in the water,’ the MP said in a video shared on X.
However, environmental groups are still worried, with campaigners saying there remained a lot of ‘uncertainty’ over the aftermath of the collision.
Leaking oil and fuel being released could leave a ‘toxic legacy’ for ocean wildlife that should be protected, according to Hugo Tagholm, executive director of Oceana UK.
He warned the spill could have a ‘long term impact’ on ecosystems which are home to threatened seabird colonies, grey seals, harbour porpoises, fish, and minke whales.
Martin Slater, of the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, warned it could potentially be ‘devastating’ to the Humber estuary, with birds and seals at risk, and that he was ‘very worried’ about it.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) said the disaster was close to the biggest gannet colony in England and warned a leak could be ‘lethal’ to seabirds.
Dave O’Hara, of the RSPB, said: ‘The incident is close to Bempton Cliffs, home to the biggest gannet colony in England.’
The charity’s Richard Barnard added: ‘Oil directly impacts seabirds, coating their feathers and reducing their waterproofing and buoyancy, which can lead to drowning, or it can poison them through ingestion.’
Emergency measures are in place for any injured birds that wash ashore in the coming days, which may include euthanising animals if their injuries are severe.
A spokesman for the local Whitby Wildlife Sanctuary said: ‘Hopefully, the effect on wildlife will be minimal, but there is an emergency contingency plan in place if lots of oiled birds wash up.’
Harj Narulla, an environmental law barrister from Doughty Street Chambers, said the costs of cleaning up an oil spill could be in the tens of millions of pounds. Typically the company found to have caused the spill foots the bill.
Dr Alex Lukyanov, researcher on advanced mathematical models of oil spills from the University of Reading, said: ‘Oil spills like the one in the North Sea are affected by multiple factors.
‘The size of the spill, weather conditions, sea currents, water waves, wind patterns, and the type of oil involved all play crucial roles in determining environmental outcomes.
‘This particular incident is troubling because it appears to involve persistent oil, which breaks up slowly in water.’
He added: ‘The environmental toll could be severe.’
The Solong is still burning with the Coastguard earlier warning the ship was expected to sink. It’s currently being supported by three tug ships.
However, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said the ruined cargo vessel is now anticipated to remain afloat.
Ms Alexander’s comment came after she met with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s chief executive Virginia McVea on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the response to the incident.
She said: ‘I am reassured to hear indications from the ship’s owners which suggest the sodium cyanide containers were empty and that efforts to confirm this by the salvors are underway.
‘I was also pleased to have been informed that early indications suggest that both vessels are now expected to stay afloat and that the Solong can be towed away from the shore, and salvage operations can get under way.
‘I will continue to monitor the response and have asked for regular updates, including on any potential environmental impacts, across government and our agencies.’
Pictures show the vessel’s charred and blackened superstructure appearing to have been warped and extremely damaged following Monday’s disaster.
The nightmare collision took place at 9.48am on Monday morning and triggered a major rescue effort.
Previously there was speculation the Solong might have been hacked by Russia or other hostile states and turned into a ‘spear’.
However, this has today been denied by transport minister Mr Kane, during a speech in the House of Commons.
The minister said something went ‘terribly wrong’ for the crash to happen, but that there was ‘no evidence’ of foul play.
A spokesman for the Prime Minister later added: ‘I understand there doesn’t appear to be any suggestions of foul play at this time.’
Both the Solong and Immaculate had been tangled together in the aftermath of the crash. However, they separated at about 11.20pm on Monday, causing the Solong to ‘drift southwards’, the Coastguard said.
The Solong had been sailing from the Scottish port of Grangemouth to Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
The 461ft Solong did ‘not even slow down’ as it ploughed ‘full bore’ into the side of the 600ft-long tanker, a US naval history professor Sal Mercogliano said.
In a YouTube video analysing the tracking data from the ships, he said: ‘It appears that Solong just straight-out rammed into the side of Stena Immaculate.’
Dramatic footage showed the stricken vessels entangled as they floated around consumed by an inferno, as a massive rescue operation was launched shortly after the crash at 9.48am yesterday.
Flames leapt from oil burning on the surface of the sea as RNLI lifeboats and a Coastguard helicopter plucked sailors to safety.
Lifeboat crews from Skegness, Bridlington, Mablethorpe and Cleethorpes took part in the operation, while the Humber Coastguard issued an alert for any nearby vessels with fire-fighting capabilities to help out.
They were scrambled at 10.20am – with the crews from both of the devastated vessels having abandoned ship minutes earlier.
One rescue vessel from Cleethorpes was stood down at 11.40am, the RNLI said, while the three other boats continued with their search efforts. They were joined by a number of other civilian craft.
Rescue efforts were hampered by fog and thick smoke which billowed from the wrecks of the two ships.
The first reports of casualties having been pulled from the water came shortly after 1pm, with a number of crew members taken ashore.
By 9.30pm, Matthew Atikinson, divisional commander for HM Coastguard – which was co-ordinating the rescue – said 36 people had been rescued, with one heading to hospital.
However, in his update on Monday night he added: ‘One crew member of the Solong remains unaccounted for, after an extensive search for the missing crew member sadly they have not been found and the search has ended.’
The Stena Immaculate, which had travelled from the Greek port of Agioi Theodoroi, had been chartered by the US Navy’s Military Sealift Command as part of its Tanker Security Program which ‘supports US military missions across the globe’.
It is understood the US and Portugal will lead investigations into the incident and that work is ongoing to establish the full contents of both ships.
Collisions remain rare in the busy North Sea.
In October 2023, two cargo ships, the Verity and the Polesie, collided near Germany’s Heligoland islands in the North Sea.
Three people were killed and two others are still missing and considered dead.
In October 2015, the Flinterstar freighter, carrying 125 tonnes of diesel and 427 tonnes of fuel oil, sank after colliding with the Al Oraiq tanker eight kilometres (five miles) off the Belgian coast.