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Leaking fuel from the collision between a cargo ship and oil tanker in the North Sea would have a “devastating” impact on marine life, an expert has warned, as investigations began into the cause of the crash.
Fires continued to burn onboard both vessels 24 hours after the Stena Immaculate tanker was struck off the coast of Yorkshire on Monday morning. A search for a missing crew member was called off overnight.
As investigations were stepped up into the cause of the collision, a White House official reportedly refused to rule out foul play amid questions about why the cargo ship, the Solong – which was carrying cargo for the US military – appeared not to slow down or change course before striking the Stena Immaculate.
Environmental experts warned that the jet fuel leaking from the 183-metre-long vessel was toxic for humans and wildlife.
Dr Simon Boxall, an academic in oceanography at the University of Southampton, said the Jet A-1 fuel had a “much higher toxicity” than crude oil and that “the impact on that on life in the oceans would be devastating”.
Melanie Onn, the MP for Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes, said it had been a “shocking 24 hours” since the collision and that people were worried about the potential harm to the ecosystem.
She said the government had not confirmed reports that the Solong was carrying the highly toxic chemical sodium cyanide when it ploughed into the Stena Immaculate.
Onn told the Guardian on Tuesday: “They don’t know what the cargo is on that vessel. I think if it were sodium cyanide that would be really quite bad because it gets into contact with water and becomes airborne as well. It’s a very, very serious chemical.”
Boxall said it was not clear whether any sodium cyanide had leaked into the ocean but that it was “not good news” if it had. “If they do fall into the sea in the middle of that huge fireball then they turn very rapidly to hydrogen cyanide, which is really quite a dangerous gas,” he told Sky News.
Dr Seyedvahid Vakili, a maritime expert at the University of Southampton, said it was difficult to determine the main cause of the collision but that in most cases “human factors play a significant role”.
“This is particularly relevant for container vessels where high workloads and fatigue can be major contributing factors. At this stage it needs further comprehensive investigation,” he said.
A US sailor onboard the Stena Immaculate told CBS News that the Solong “came out of the blue”, giving those onboard “only seconds to react”.
The crew member, who was not named, described how flames were lapping at the sailors as they evacuated the burning vessel, leaving some with singed hair.
The whole incident from impact to evacuation lasted about 30 minutes, they said, adding that the operation was “textbook”.
The crew member said the Stena Immaculate had anchored at that spot and relayed its coordinates on Sunday, meaning all other vessels should have known where it was.
Matthew Pennycook, a government minister, said Coastguard aircraft were monitoring the site of the incident off the East Yorkshire coast. He said: “We are working with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to assess the impact on water pollution. The fire is obviously still raging.”
He added: “The Maritime and Coastguard Agency are well equipped to contain and disperse any oil spills. We don’t think air quality impacts are outside of normal levels, but we will keep the situation obviously under review.”
