According to Reuters, the oil tanker Stena Immaculate operated by the Crowley Group (USA) was hit by the Portuguese-flagged cargo ship Solong while anchored near the city of Hull, causing the cargo tank to rupture and spill fuel into the sea.

The incident occurred at 9:50 a.m. local time on Monday (March 10). According to the ship tracking website Marine Traffic, the 183-meter-long Stena Immaculate was carrying a full load of Jet-A1 jet fuel and its own fuel, totaling about 50 million liters.

According to US shipping and logistics company Crowley, which co-owns and operates the tanker with Swedish company Stena Bulk, the ship suffered a rupture in a Jet-A1 fuel tank.

"A fire broke out as a result of the collision and there were reports of a fuel leak," Crowley's press release said. "The crew abandoned ship after multiple explosions on board."

Local officials said 32 injured people were taken away by ambulance but by mid-afternoon only one person remained in hospital.

A spokesman for the US Navy's Military Transportation Command later confirmed that the tanker Stena Immaculate was "on short-term charter" at the time of the incident.

The British Coast Guard is looking into reports that the Solong was carrying 15 containers of sodium cyanide, a highly toxic chemical used in gold mining and chemical manufacturing. The Coast Guard said the Solong did not send any distress signals indicating navigational problems before the collision.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's office said details surrounding the cause of the collision were "still being established".

Quang Anh (according to Reuters, WSJ, DW)