The cargo ship Solong collided with the oil tanker Stena Immaculate in the eastern sea of England, causing both ships to catch fire.
Two ships burst into flames after the collision
PHOTO FROM BNO NEWS CLIP
AP news agency reported that an oil tanker collided with a cargo ship in the waters east of England on March 10, causing both ships to burst into flames and leading to a massive rescue operation.
At least 32 injured people have been brought ashore, but it is unclear whether any more people from the two vessels have yet to be found. Grimsby East Port Authority CEO Martyn Boyers said 13 were taken ashore by the Windcat 33, while another 19 were transferred by a pilot boat.
The British Coast Guard said the alert was raised at 9:48 a.m. The collision occurred off the coast of Hull, about 155 miles (250 km) north of London.
Rescuers said there were reports of people leaving the two ships after the collision as both were on fire. According to the BBC, all 20 crew members of the tanker have been found safe.
BBC images show a huge plume of black smoke and flames rising from the scene. A coastguard helicopter, other planes, lifeboats and nearby ships are involved in the rescue.
According to the ship tracking website VesselFinder , the tanker, believed to be the US-flagged Stena Immaculate, was anchored at the time after leaving Greece. The cargo ship was the Portuguese-flagged container ship Solong, which was sailing from Grangemouth in Scotland to Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
The Stena Immaculate is 183 metres long, built in 2017 and weighs nearly 50,000 tonnes. According to the BBC, the ship is managed by the American Crowley company and owned by the Swedish company Stena Sphere.
This is one of 10 oil tankers on the list of a US government program to provide fuel for the US military in the event of armed conflict or national emergency.
This means the US military could have called in the ship at any time, but there is no indication it was being used for this purpose when the accident occurred.
The Solong ship is 140.6 m long, built in 2005 and has the capacity to carry 9,500 tons of cargo.
Sky News quoted expert David McFarlane, director of the Maritime Safety and Risk Consulting Company (Scotland), saying that rarely is 100% the fault of a ship when a collision occurs, although the cause of the incident is still unknown.
The Stena Immaculate was at anchor and could take an hour to weigh anchor, he said, leaving it no time to move away to avoid a collision. He said the ships could be seen from more than 15km away, and could be detected by radar from as far as 38km away. All ships must have a permanent observer and it is unusual for a ship to collide with a ship at anchor.
Reuters quoted a British Coast Guard spokesman as saying the force was assessing the potential pollution from the collision. There was information that the tanker was carrying jet fuel, which is highly flammable.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/tau-dau-va-cham-tau-hang-chay-ngun-ngut-hang-chuc-nguoi-bi-thuong-185250310211935531.htm
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