LONDON: A tanker carrying jet fuel for the US military was struck by a container ship off northeast England on Monday, igniting a blaze and multiple explosions and forcing both crews to abandon ship.

The tanker, which has the potential to carry tens of thousands of tons of jet fuel, was at anchor when the smaller container ship struck it at speed, rupturing its cargo tank and releasing fuel into the sea. Two maritime security sources said there was no indication of any malicious activity or other actors involved in the incident.

Local officials said 32 casualties had been met by ambulances but by mid afternoon only one remained in hospital. But the crash could risk environmental damage. Martin Slater, director of operations at Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, said East Yorkshires coast was home to protected and significant colonies of seabirds including puffins and gannets, with many offshore on the sea ahead of the nesting season.

A Greenpeace spokesperson said: “The magnitude of any impact will depend on a number of factors, including the amount and type of oil carried by the tanker, the fuel carried by both ships, and how much of that, if any, has entered the water. “Sea and weather conditions will also be important in determining how any spill behaves.”

Jet-A1 fuel

The tanker, the Stena Immaculate, operated by US logistics group Crowley, was carrying Jet-A1 fuel when it was struck by the Portuguese-flagged cargo ship Solong while anchored near Hull, Crowley wrote on X. The Stena tanker is part of a US government programme designed to supply the armed forces with fuel when required.

Vessel releases hydrocarbon fuel into the ocean

A US military spokesperson said it had been on a short-term charter to the US Navy’s Military Sealift Command on Monday. Emergency teams sent a helicopter, fixed-wing aircraft, lifeboats and nearby vessels with firefighting capability to the incident on Monday morning.

“A fire occurred as a result of the allision and fuel was reported released,” Crowley said. An allision refers to a collision where one vessel is stationary. One insurance specialist said the pollution risk, as a products tanker, was less than if it were a crude carrier. “A lot depends really on cargo carried, how many tanks were breached and how bad the fire is,” the source said.

Mark Sephton, professor of Organic Geochemistry at Imperial College London, added that the relatively small hydrocarbons of jet fuel could be degraded by bacteria more quickly than larger molecules. “The fact that we are moving into warmer temperatures will also speed up biodegradation rates,” he said.

The incident occurred in a busy stretch of waterway, with traffic running from the ports along Britain’s northeast coast to the Netherlands and Germany, shipping industry sources said.

Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2025