North Sea oil tanker: Chilling 4 words heard on radio as cargo ship is abandoned
The search for a missing crew member has been called off after an 'extensive' operation
Oil tanker burns after collision with cargo ship in North Sea
A radio message containing four sinister words has been heard after the collision between an oil tanker carrying jet fuel and a cargo ship carrying highly toxic chemicals in the North Sea yesterday. One crew member is unaccounted for, and an "extensive" search for them has been called off. The vessels involved in the incident in the North Sea off the UK coast were US-registered Stena Immaculate, transporting fuel on behalf of the country's military, and the Portuguese-flagged Solong.
Thirty-six people have been rescued, with one person taken to hospital, emergency responders have said. The missing person is believed to have been on the Solong. Now, a radio message believed to have been broadcasted by the Humber Coastguard at the time the ships were evacuated, has been heard. It stated: "'Solong' has collided with the tanker 'Stena Immaculate' in the outer anchorage zone.
"Both vessels are abandoned. Vessels with fire-fighting or rescue equipment should report to the Humber Coastguard. The 'Stena Immaculate' is carrying aircraft fuel, which is now burning and leaking into the water."
As of 9.44am this morning, the fires as a result of the collision are still blazing.
Melanie Onn, Labour MP for Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning it is not known what is in the cargo of the ship which was involved in a collision with a tanker in the North Sea off the East Yorkshire coast.
However, if it were sodium cyanide, she warned: "That would be very worrying."
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She added this was "undetermined", adding: "Actually, they don’t know what is in the cargo for Solong. And if it were to be the sodium cyanide, that would be very worrying. So we are waiting for kind of continuous updates on that.
"The Marine Accident Investigation Branch are now on site and giving direct reports back to the minister, and there is the MCA (Maritime and Coastguard Agency), they are doing an evaluation of the contamination risk and working with the owners of both of the vessels to plan a salvage operation."
