Cargo ship hits tanker carrying jet fuel for the US military

The collision set both vessels ablaze and sent fuel pouring into the North Sea.

Defense NewsJill Lawless, The Associated Press2025-03-10 18:33查看原文 ↗

A cargo ship hit a tanker carrying jet fuel for the U.S. military off eastern England on Monday, setting both vessels ablaze and sending fuel pouring into the North Sea.

All 37 crew members aboard the vessels were safe and accounted for, with one hospitalized, local lawmaker Graham Stuart said. The collision triggered a major rescue operation by lifeboats, coast guard aircraft and commercial vessels.

Stuart said he was concerned about the “potential ecological impact” of the spill, whose cause was being investigated by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch.

The U.S.-flagged chemical and oil products tanker MV Stena Immaculate was at anchor near the port of Grimsby on Monday morning after sailing from Greece, according to ship-tracking site VesselFinder. The Portugal-flagged container ship Solong was sailing from Grangemouth in Scotland to Rotterdam in the Netherlands when it struck the side of the tanker.

U.S.-based maritime management firm Crowley, which operates the Stena Immaculate, said the tanker “sustained a ruptured cargo tank containing Jet-A1 fuel,” when the container ship struck it, triggering a fire and “multiple explosions onboard,” with fuel released into the sea.

It said all 23 mariners on the tanker were safe and accounted for.

The Stena Immaculate was operating as part of the U.S. government’s Tanker Security Program, a group of commercial vessels that can be contracted to carry fuel for the military when needed.

Britain’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency said the alarm was raised at 9:48 a.m. Humber Coast Guard asked vessels with firefighting equipment and those who could help with search and rescue to head to the scene about 155 miles north of London.

Video footage aired by British broadcasters and apparently filmed from a nearby vessel showed thick black smoke pouring from both ships.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office said details of the collision and its cause “are still becoming clear.”

Abdul Khalique, head of the Maritime Center at Liverpool John Moores University, said it appeared the crew of the cargo ship had not been “maintaining a proper lookout by radar” as required by international maritime regulations.

Greenpeace U.K. said it was too early to assess the extent of any environmental damage from the collision, which took place in a busy fishing ground and close to major seabird colonies.

Scientists said the environmental impact might be less severe than with a spill of heavier crude oil.

“Whilst the images look worrying, from the perspective of the impact to the aquatic environment, it’s less of a concern than if this had been crude oil because most of the jet fuel will evaporate very quickly,” said Mark Hartl of the Center for Marine Biodiversity and Biotechnology at Scotland’s Heriot-Watt University.

Mark Sephton, professor of organic geochemistry at Imperial College London, said jet fuel disintegrates more quickly than crude oil, and warmer temperatures speed biodegradation.

“In the end, it all depends on the rate of introduction of fuel and the rate of destruction by bacteria,” he said. “Let’s hope the latter wins out.”

周一，一艘货船在英格兰东部海域撞上一艘为美国军方运送航空燃油的油轮，两艘船均起火，燃油倾泻到北海。

当地议员格雷厄姆·斯图尔特表示，船上37名船员全部安全，其中一人被送往医院。此次碰撞引发了由救生艇、海岸警卫队飞机和商船参与的大规模救援行动。

斯图尔特表示，他担心此次泄漏事件可能造成的“生态影响”，事故原因正在由海事事故调查局进行调查。

据船舶追踪网站VesselFinder显示，悬挂美国国旗的化学品和石油产品油轮“Stena Immaculate”号周一上午从希腊起航后，停泊在格里姆斯比港附近。悬挂葡萄牙国旗的集装箱船“Solong”号当时正从苏格兰格兰杰茅斯驶往荷兰鹿特丹，途中撞上了该油轮的侧面。

总部位于美国的航运管理公司 Crowley 运营着 Stena Immaculate 号油轮，该公司表示，这艘油轮在被集装箱船撞击时，“一个装有 Jet-A1 燃料的货舱破裂”，引发火灾和“船上多次爆炸”，燃料泄漏到海中。

声明称，油轮上所有23名海员均安全无恙，人数已全部清点完毕。

Stena Immaculate 号是美国政府油轮安全计划的一部分，该计划涉及一批商船，可在需要时承包为军方运送燃料。

英国海事和海岸警卫队表示，上午 9 点 48 分发出警报。亨伯海岸警卫队要求配备消防设备的船只以及能够协助搜救的人员前往位于伦敦以北约 155 英里的现场。

英国广播公司播放的视频画面显示，两艘船都冒出滚滚黑烟，该画面显然是从附近的一艘船上拍摄的。

英国首相基尔·斯塔默的办公室表示，碰撞事故的细节和原因“仍在逐渐明朗”。

利物浦约翰摩尔斯大学海事中心主任阿卜杜勒·哈利克表示，这艘货船的船员似乎没有按照国际海事法规的要求“通过雷达保持适当的瞭望”。