Man arrested over oil tanker collision off English coast

(Reuters) — British police arrested a man Tuesday on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter after an unexplained collision at sea left a tanker carrying U.S. military jet fuel with a gaping hole in its side and a container ship adrift and likely to sink.

The tanker, Stena Immaculate, was at anchor Monday when it was struck by the smaller Solong, causing huge fires and explosions, releasing fuel into the sea, and potentially posing a danger to wildlife.

One crew member from the Portuguese-flagged Solong is presumed dead, and the vessel is unlikely to stay afloat, maritime minister Mike Kane told parliament.

Thirty-six people were brought ashore following the incident, and no others remain missing, the coast guard said.

“We have arrested a 59-year-old man on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter in connection with the collision,” police said in a statement.

Aerial video Tuesday showed a gaping hole in Stena Immaculate’s hull, with fire damage along its length, although the flames that engulfed it after the collision appeared to have subsided.

The Solong, which appeared badly burnt and smoldering in separate footage, had drifted south overnight, the coast guard said, adding that a one-kilometer (0.62 mile) exclusion zone had been placed around both vessels.

Owners of the Solong said the vessel was not carrying sodium cyanide, contrary to an earlier report from maritime data provider Lloyd’s List Intelligence, which cited the local coast guard, but conservation groups said the environmental impact from the spillage of jet fuel could prove wide reaching.

The Solong owners said they were monitoring four containers that had previously been used to store sodium cyanide.

The surrounding area is home to large colonies of protected seabirds, including puffins and gannets as well as a delicate coastal ecosystem.

Authorities and operators of the vessels have yet to offer an explanation of why multiple safety systems on board modern vessels failed to prevent Monday’s collision.

Data from maritime analytics website MarineTraffic showed the 600-foot Stena Immaculate was anchored off Immingham, northeast England, when it was struck by the 460-foot Solong, which was en route to Rotterdam.

The Solong was sailing at cruise speed and close to the maximum of around 18 to 19 knots, shipping sources said, and the vessel had sailed through the same area on past voyages.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s spokesman said there was currently no suggestion of foul play.”

The Stena Immaculate was carrying 220,000 barrels of jet fuel in 16 segregated cargo tanks, but it was unclear how much of it was spilt after at least one tank was hit, Crowley, the U.S. logistics group that operated the vessel, said on Monday.

While Britain’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch will gather initial evidence, overall responsibility for investigating the crash lies with the U.S. and Portuguese authorities, the flag states of the vessels.