London: A massive fire continues to rage 17 hours after an oil tanker and a cargo ship collided off the northern coast of Britain in the North Sea.
According to the Humber Estuary Coast Guard, one crew member is still missing, and search operations have been halted.
The oil tanker involved in the incident, Stena Immaculate, is registered in the United States and was transporting jet fuel for the U.S. military. Meanwhile, the Portuguese cargo ship Solong was carrying highly toxic chemicals at the time of the crash.
According to MarineTraffic, Stena Immaculate had departed from a Greek port and was anchored near the Humber Estuary. Solong was en route from Grangemouth, Scotland, to Rotterdam, Netherlands, carrying 15 containers of sodium cyanide when the accident occurred.
Humber Coast Guard's Divisional Commander, Matthew Atkinson, confirmed that 36 crew members had been rescued, with one taken to the hospital. The missing person is a crew member from the cargo ship.
Authorities have also confirmed that some jet fuel has leaked into the sea from the damaged oil tanker. Efforts are underway to assess the environmental impact of the spill on the North Sea and nearby coastal areas.
The UK's Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has deployed inspectors and investigation teams to gather evidence and conduct a preliminary inquiry into the cause of the collision.
