More than 30 injured after oil tanker, cargo ship collide off English coast

An oil tanker and a cargo ship collided off the coast of eastern England setting both vessels on fire, with at least 32 casualties brought onshore in a major rescue operation.

A spokesperson for the United Kingdom’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency said on Monday that the crash had occurred off the coast of the county of East Yorkshire.

Both the oil tanker and cargo vessel were on fire off the northeastern coast of England, with British media showing images of a huge plume of black smoke and flames rising from the scene.

Martyn Boyers, chief executive of the Port of Grimsby East, said at least 32 casualties were brought ashore, but their condition was not immediately clear.

“It’s too far out for us to see – about 10 miles – but we have seen the vessels bringing them in,” he said, reporting that 13 casualties were brought in on a Windcat 33 vessel, followed by another 19 on a harbour pilot boat.

Boyers said he had been told there was “a massive fireball”.

The coastguard agency sent a helicopter, fixed-wing aircraft, lifeboats and vessels with fire-fighting capability to the busy stretch of waterway after the alarm was raised at 0948 GMT.

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution, which was working on the emergency response, said there were reports that “a number of people had abandoned the vessels”, which sparked “fires on both ships”.

It said three lifeboats were working on search and rescue at the scene alongside the coast guard.

Swedish tanker company Stena Bulk confirmed it owned the oil tanker involved in the accident, specifying that it was operated by Crowley, a US-based maritime company.

Stena Bulk said that the 20-strong crew on board had been accounted for.

According to media reports, the cargo ship involved is the “Solong” or “So Long”, owned by the German company Reederei Koepping.

The area where the collision took place has traffic running from the ports along Britain’s northeast coast to the Netherlands and Germany.

The International Maritime Organisation, the United Nations shipping agency, said it was aware of the situation and was checking further.