As many of you will know there was a serious collision in the North Sea 2 days ago.
A tanker, the Star Immaculate, under lease to the USAF and manned largely by a US crew, was at anchor 10 miles offshore in a designated staging area. The ship was waiting for port space on the Humber to off load aviation fuel for the USAF bases in East Anglia, of which there a quite a number as a vital part of NORAD. The ship was where it was supposed to be and shown on Electronic charting, and any properly manned and orderly vessel should have been aware of her location. Although well after sunrise, visibility was poor due to fog.
A coastal Container ship the Solong was headed south carrying cargo from Grangemouth, Scotland to Rotterdam. Speed was just over 16 knotts, but should not have been travelling faster than 10 knots in the Anchorage area. The Solong hit the Star Immaculate broadside amidships at 16 knots. Both ships burst into flames and both crews abandoned ship. One crew member of the Solong is missing and presumed dead.
There was an immediate, impressive and multifaceted response out of the Humber, with the RNLI lifeboats on scene in a little over 20 minutes. Fire boats were on scene fast and an appeal for all vessels with firefighting equipment to get on scene.
The two vessels eventually separated. There is no visible fire from Star immaculate but there still is from Solong. Solong is under control of tugs but drifting to the east.
There was worry the Solong had 15 containers full of Na cyanide, but the German owners were able to confirm the containers were empty.
However there has been a highly significant leak of jet fuel and bunker fuel into an environment of great biological importance and sensitivity. The multiple estuaries of the East Coast are among the most diverse and important on the planet. Up at our holiday home south of there naturalists from around the world were to be found on the Byborough marshes between Southwold and Walberswick. That are from the mouth of the Thames all the way up to the Humber and beyond is one of the most beautiful regions on Earth. So this remains a grave concern from this event.
The Solong is owned by Germans and crewed by Russians mainly, and some Filipinos. The master of the ship is Russian. The ship is flagged out of Madeira, which is Portugal. However there was some fiddle done to make it somewhat separate from Portugal, to create fiddle to bypass more onerous EU and UK regs. When the Solong was in Ireland a few months back the vessel had 10 safety violations, including an inaccurate navigational compass! Despite that the ship was allowed to leave port.
The Russian captain is arrested and locked up in Grimsby, charged with negligent homicide. British police are in charge of the investigation, but with many authorities involved. The UK are ruling nothing out, including a Russian operation to destroy and American flagged vessel under lease to the USAF. The Russians are being kept informed but have been denied access to the captain as of this time.
This is a massive event and a vast moving story, not getting the attention it should in US media.
As usual you can keep updated on important events on Audioholics.
