The freighter hit a jet-fuel tanker off the coast of eastern England on Monday, with both ships set fire to sparking major rescue operations, emergency services said.
At least 32 people landed, but their condition was not immediately clear. The tanker operator said the entire crew was safe.
According to ship tracking site Vesselfinder, the US class chemical and petroleum product tanker MV Stena Immaculate was at an anchor near the port of Grimsby on Monday morning after a voyage from Greece. The freighter, the Portuguese-style container ship Son sailed from Grangemouth in Scotland to Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
US Crowley Ship Management, which operates Stena Immaculate, said the tanker “perpetuated a ruptured cargo tank containing Jet-A1 fuel,” and when the container ship struck it, it caused a fire and “multiple explosions inside the ship” that it released into the sea.
Trump's Scottish golf resort was destroyed by pro-Palestinian groups over Gaza stance
Screen recording of a map showing tankers and containers. (Reuters)
All the mariners in the tanker said they were safe and explained.
Grimsby East Port CEO Martin Boyers said 13 casualties were brought into Windcat 33 high speed containers followed by 19 more people on the port's pilot boat.
British Maritime and Coast Guard agencies said several lifeboats and Coast Guard rescue helicopters were sent to the North Sea scene along with Coast Guard planes.
The location of the collision is off the coast of Hull, about 155 miles north of London.
Coast guards said the alarm was raised to 9:48am (0948 GMT). The Humber Coast Guard made a radio broadcast asking people who could help with fire equipment and search and rescue to the scene to the boat.
A giant misfire World War I bomb found in a crowded residential area in Paris
Screenshot of a map showing the moment a container ship collides with a chemical tanker. (Reuters)
The RNLI Lifeboat agency said “There were reports that many people abandoned the ship after the collision and both ships had fired.” Three lifeboats said they were working on search and rescue at the scene alongside the Coast Guard.
Video footage, aired by the BBC and clearly captured from nearby ships, showed thick black smoke pouring from both ships.
Port Chief Boyers said they were told there was a “large fireball.”
“It's too far for us to see – about 10 miles – we've seen the ships that bring them in,” he said. “They must have sent Maydays. Luckily, the crew had already had a transport ship there. Since then, there have been ambulances to pick up anyone they could find.”
The British Prime Minister laid out the framework for the Ukrainian Peace Contract to respond to Zelensky's call to resign
An ambulance leaves the port after the ship collides with the tanker. (Reuters)
UK Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said he was kept up to date with the developing situation.
Click here to get the Fox News app
“I would like to thank all emergency services workers involved in their ongoing efforts to respond to the incident,” she said.
