Investigations have already started into what led the cargo ship to strike the tanker carrying jet fuel on Monday, as fears remained of possible harm to the area's marine and wildlife.
The UK Coastguard, which led the operation, rescued 36 people on Monday, including all of the 23 crew on the US-flagged Stena Immaculate tanker, which had been chartered by the US military.
But a missing member of the Solong cargo vessel crew was "likely deceased", UK under-secretary for transport Mike Kane told parliament.
Humberside Police in northeast England said they had arrested a 59-year-old man on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter in connection with the collision.
Ernst Russ, owner of the cargo ship, then issued a statement saying that it "can confirm that the master of the... Solong has been detained by Humberside police in the UK".
"The master and our entire team are actively assisting with the investigations," it added.
Kane said the fire on the Stena Immaculate "appears to be extinguished" but this was not immediately confirmed by the Coastguard.
"The Solong is still alight and the fire on board the Stena Immaculate has greatly diminished," the UK Coastguard said.
The Coastguard was closely monitoring the Solong, which had broken free of the tanker overnight and was limping southwards, accompanied by four tugboats, including one which had a line attached to the stricken vessel.
- No sodium cyanide -
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said she met the Maritime and Coastguard Agency's chief executive Virginia McVea on Tuesday and was "pleased to have been informed that early indications suggest that both vessels are now expected to stay afloat".
AFP photos taken during a helicopter fly-over showed smoke still pouring from the Solong, while a large hole could be seen in the side of the Stena Immaculate.
The accident occurred at around 09:48 am (0948 GMT) on Monday when the Portuguese-flagged cargo ship ploughed into the tanker, anchored about 13 miles off the northeastern port of Hull.
According to data collected by website VesselFinder, the collision displaced the tanker by "more than 400 metres".
The Stena Immaculate was on a short-term US military charter with Military Sealift Command, according to a spokesperson for the command, which operates civilian-crewed ships for the US Defense Department.
Crowley, the US-based operator of the Stena Immaculate, said the crash had "ruptured" the tank "containing A1-jet fuel" and triggered a fire, with fuel "reported released".
The Stena Immaculate was carrying around 220,000 barrels of jet fuel, Crowley confirmed.
In a later statement, the company said it was unclear how much fuel had been released but that an initial review suggested it was "limited" due to evaporation and exposure to fire.
There was "no evidence of foul play", Kane said in his statement to parliament.
The German owners of the Solong on Tuesday said that the container ship was not carrying sodium cyanide, as had been reported the previous day.
"We are able to confirm that there are no containers on board with sodium cyanide (inside)," Ernst Russ said.
Kane said that "no signs of pollution from vessels is observed at this time", but that the situation was being monitored.
- Environmental concerns -
Dutch maritime servicing company Boskalis told the Netherlands' ANP news agency it had been tasked with salvaging the Stena Immaculate and was also measuring the atmosphere around the vessel for potential toxic fumes.
UK Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook said the investigation was being led by US and Portuguese authorities, since the vessels were sailing under their flags.
"We're obviously very alive to the potential impact on the environment," he told Times Radio, but added that the Coastguard was well equipped to deal with any oil spills.
Paul Johnston, a senior scientist at the Greenpeace Research Laboratories at Exeter University, said: "We are extremely concerned about the multiple toxic hazards."
There are several nature reserves along the Humber estuary.
"The good news is it's not like a crude oil spill," Ivor Vince, founder of environmental risk advisory group ASK Consultants, told AFP.
"Most of it will evaporate quite quickly and what doesn't evaporate will be degraded by microorganisms quite quickly," he said.
Crowley said in its later statement that UK agencies were closely monitoring air quality and possible public health impacts, but "both are currently measuring low or within normal levels".
North Sea ship crash: what we know
Grimsby, United Kingdom (AFP) Mar 11, 2025 - More firefighting ships were deployed off the British coast Tuesday a day after a cargo ship struck a tanker laden with jet fuel chartered by the US military.
Here is what we know about Monday's incident in the North Sea involving the tanker Stena Immaculate and the container ship Solong.
- Tanker at anchor -
The Stena Immaculate, owned by Sweden's Stena Bulk, was carrying 220,000 barrels of jet fuel, said Crowley Maritime, the US shipping firm managing the tanker.
It was at anchor about 13 miles (20 kilometres) off the northeastern England port of Hull when it was "struck by the container ship Solong", it added.
The alarm was raised at 09:48 am (0948 GMT) on Monday.
A massive fire erupted after the crash and engulfed both vessels. A UK minister told parliament that the jet fuel onboard the tanker was "the source of the fire".
Despite initial reports, the Solong cargo ship was not transporting containers of toxic sodium cyanide, said its owners, German shipping company Ernst Russ.
Crowley Maritime said the tanker was carrying jet-A1 fuel. The US Defense Department has confirmed that the US military chartered the vessel.
There is no suggestion of "foul play" over the incident, Prime Minister Keir Starmer's spokesperson said.
Despite fears of an environmental disaster, transport minister Mike Kane also told parliament that "as it currently stands, no signs of pollution from vessels is observed at this time.
"But monitoring is in place and should that change, assets in place, they will be provided as needed," he added.
The UK Coastguard said 36 people had been rescued.
Thirteen of the Solong's 14 crew members were brought ashore, said owners Ernst Russ.
The search for the missing crew member was called off late on Monday, and he was "likely deceased," Kane told parliament.
All 23 crew of the Immaculate were ashore and accounted for. One sailor was treated at the scene but declined any further medical assistance, Kane added.
- Ships ablaze -
Both ships are still alight, although the fire on board the Stena Immaculate had "greatly diminished", the UK Coastguard said.
The Solong had detached from the tanker overnight and was drifting southwards and being monitored, it said. An AFP photo showed the Solong had been devasted by the blaze and was still smoking.
Kane told parliament it was "unlikely the vessel will remain afloat".
Four further ships with firefighting capacity were on their way to the site of the stricken Stena Immaculate, according to Dutch maritime servicing company Boskalis, tasked with salvaging the tanker.
The tanker would need to be "cooled down" before the fire could be put out, it said.
The government Marine Accident Investigation Branch said it had a team at the scene already "gathering evidence" and assessing "next steps".
The investigation was being led by the US and Portuguese authorities, as the ships were flagged from their countries, UK housing minister Matthew Pennycook said.
- Proper lookout? -
David McFarlane of the Maritime Risk and Safety consultancy said there were 200 to 300 ship collisions around the world each year, but most are just a "slight bump" in port.
"The collision regulations... state that all ships must maintain a proper lookout at all times. And clearly something has gone wrong here, because if a proper lookout had been maintained, this collision would have been avoided," McFarlane told AFP.
When the flames die down investigators will look for the video data recorders on the two ships -- the equivalent of a plane's "black box" data recorders.
These should have information from the ships' radar as well as voice recordings of the bridge teams. McFarlane said this would help investigators find out if there was communication between the two ships.
North Sea accident: What are the environmental risks?
London (AFP) Mar 11, 2025 -
The crash between a cargo ship and a tanker carrying jet fuel in the North Sea off the coast of England has raised fears of coastal pollution and damage to marine protected areas.
What pollutants were on the ships?
The Stena Immaculate tanker, which was anchored around 13 miles (20 kilometres) off the northeast Yorkshire coast when it was hit by the cargo ship Solong, was carrying around 220,000 barrels of kerosene, a petroleum derivative used as jet fuel, according to the specialist company Lloyd's List Intelligence.
Crowley, the ship's operator, said one of its tanks containing kerosene had been ruptured, and that a leak had been reported.
The cargo being carried by Solong is not known at the moment.
Its owner, the German company Ernst Russ, on Tuesday denied reports that sodium cyanide, a chemical compound that produces a highly flammable and toxic gas when in contact with water, was on board.
The Solong was carrying empty containers that had previously contained the "hazardous chemical", it added.
Both ships are also carrying their own fuel, which could be "marine diesel oil" or "heavy fuel oil", said Nicolas Tamic, deputy director of Cedre, a French centre specialising in accidental water pollution.
The former is lighter and dissipates more quickly in the environment.
If it is heavy fuel oil and has not yet burned off, then "the problem will have to be dealt with", said Tamic.
What are the environmental risks?
The area where the collision took place is close to the Southern North Sea and Holderness marine protected areas, whose seabeds are known for their rich fauna and flora.
The coastline around the Humber Estuary is home to many species of birds, particularly waders and other waterfowl.
"Chemical pollution resulting from incidents of this kind can directly impact birds, and it can also have long-lasting effects on the marine food webs that support them," said Tom Webb, lecturer in marine ecology at the University of Sheffield.
Martin Slater, Director of Operations at Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, also said he was "very concerned" about the threat to birds, particularly colonies of puffins, razorbills, gannets and kittiwakes, which were gathering offshore before nesting season.
"If pollution spillage enters the Humber, this could potentially be devastating for the wildlife of the estuary, including important fish stocks and tens of thousands of overwintering and migrating birds who use the mud flats."
Is there a risk of an oil spill?
According to experts, the risk of an oil spill remains low and the UK government said Tuesday that there is presently "no sign of pollution" from the two ships.
Kerosene is "not persistent" like crude oil, Ivan Vince, director of the firm ASK Consultants, specialising in environmental risk security, told AFP.
"Most of it will evaporate quite quickly. And what doesn't evaporate will be degraded by microorganisms.
"So we're talking about a week or two, and it should be all gone," he added.
Nancy Kinner, director of the Center for Spills in the Environment at the University of New Hampshire, said that jet fuel's volatility means it "does not tend to make tarballs, evaporates from the surface faster, and tends to dissolve into the water column faster than crude oil.
"The severity of the impacts definitely depend on the amount of fuel that is released upon the surface unburned. The magnitude of the fire suggests that much of the fuel burned in place," she added.
The probability of the toxic hydrocarbons making it to wildlife refuges on the coast depends on the water currents, she said.
"What could be a bigger problem is if the sea birds land, fly close to the surface, or feed on materials they mistake for food on the water that contains the jet fuel slick," she told AFP.
But while kerosene does not tend to cause oil spills, it creates "atmospheric pollution when burned," said Tamic.
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