News
The captain of a cargo ship has been arrested after it collided with an oil tanker in the North Sea.
The Portuguese-flagged Solong and the US-registered tanker Stena Immaculate, crashed off the East Yorkshire coast, at about 10:00 GMT on Monday.
Humberside Police said the 59-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter following searches for a missing crew member of the Solong.
Smoke is continuing to billow from the Solong, but Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said both ships were expected to remain afloat.
German firm Ernest Russ, which owns the Solong, confirmed to the that the man arrested is the master of the ship.
It said he, along with the rest of the crew, were assisting the investigation.
A crew member from the cargo ship was still missing and presumed dead after a search and rescue operation ended on Monday evening, according to Transport Minister Mike Kane.
Whitehall sources have told the there were Russians and Filipinos among the crew of the Solong.
The understands all 23 crew on board the Stena Immaculate are Americans. They are all in Grimsby and are likely to be repatriated in due course.
Police said they had begun a criminal investigation into the cause of the collision and was working with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.
The Marine Accident Investigation Branch was also undertaking a parallel preliminary assessment to establish the causes of the crash, police said.
HM Coastguard confirmed 36 people had been taken safely to shore.
Det Ch Supt Craig Nicholson said: “Humberside Police have taken primacy for the investigation of any potential criminal offences which arise from the collision between the two vessels.”
He said the arrested man was in custody.
“Following inquiries undertaken by my team, we have arrested a 59-year-old man on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter in connection with the collision.
“This follows the conclusion of search operations by HM Coastguard for the missing crew member of the Solong.
“Our thoughts are with the family of the missing crew member, and I have appointed family liaison officers to make contact and provide support to the family.”
Smoke is continuing to billow from Solong.
The ship’s German owner, Ernst Russ, said it was supporting the missing crew member’s family.
It also confirmed there were no containers on board carrying sodium cyanide, as had been initially feared.
“There are four empty containers that have previously contained the hazardous chemical and these containers will continue to be monitored,” the firm said.
Crowley, the maritime company managing Stena Immaculate, said the vessel was struck by Solong while anchored off the coast of Hull, causing “multiple explosions” on board and an unknown quantity of jet fuel to be released.
The firm said Stena Immaculate was carrying 220,000 barrels of jet fuel in 16 segregated cargo tanks, at least one of which was ruptured when it was struck.
Graham Stuart, MP for Beverley and Holderness, said officials had told him there was no evidence so far of any of the heavy engine oil leaking from either ship, or pollution in the water or the air.
Earlier, Kane told the House of Commons the “working assumption” was that one crew member from the cargo ship had died.
Alexander said she had met with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and been informed that early indications suggest both vessels are now expected to stay afloat.
She added Solong could be “towed away from the shore, and salvage operations can get under way”.
Stena Immaculate was operating as part of the US government’s tanker security programme, a group of commercial vessels that can be contracted to carry fuel for the military when needed, according to Crowley.
It had been anchored while waiting for a berth to become available at the Port of Killingholme on the River Humber, the company said.
