A U.S. military-contracted tanker carrying jet fuel was involved in a collision with a cargo ship off the northeast coast of England on March 10. The incident occurred while the tanker, named Stena Immaculate, was anchored near Humberside. The collision with the smaller vessel, Solong, resulted in fires and explosions. According to Crowley, the logistics firm managing the tanker, salvage operations confirmed that only one cargo tank, which held Jet-A1 fuel, was damaged, along with one ballast tank containing seawater.
Initially, Crowley stated that the Stena Immaculate had 16 fuel tanks onboard, but the owner, Stena Bulk, later clarified that there were actually 18. Out of the 220,000 barrels of jet fuel on board, approximately 17,515 barrels were lost due to the collision and subsequent three-day fire. Crowley praised the crew for effectively activating a firefighting system before evacuating the vessel. Erik Hanell, CEO of Stena Bulk, had earlier indicated that two of the fuel tanks had leaked, estimating that about 10% of the cargo was compromised.
On a related note, the coastguard reported the presence of small plastic resin pellets, called nurdles, observed in the waters near the British coast. While nurdles are not toxic, they can pose a risk to wildlife if ingested. Cleanup efforts are now underway. In a legal development, the captain of the Solong, Vladimir Motin, faced charges of gross negligence manslaughter in relation to the death of crew member Mark Angelo Pernia.
Motin appeared in Hull Magistrates’ Court and was remanded in custody, with a scheduled court appearance in London on April 14.