Amid concerns for the safety of those affected by a collision in the North Sea yesterday between an oil tanker carrying US jet fuel and a cargo ship transporting sodium cyanide, environmental organisations have voiced strong fears over the long-term impact a resultant oil and chemical spill will have on the environment.

According to publicly available data, the collision is likely to have occurred in or near two essential marine protected zones within the area: the Holderness Offshore Marine Conservation Zone and the Southern North Sea Special Area of Conservation, both protected areas and homes to vulnerable marine life.

The Southern North Sea is currently a protected habitat for harbour porpoises, while the Holderness Offshore Marine Conservation Zone is protected due to the presence of ocean quahogs alongside protected habitats and geology.

It’s not yet clear how this spill – one now feared to contain a mix of the jet fuel carried by the oil tanker and sodium cyanide being transported by the cargo ship – will impact these protected areas.

According to VesselFinder, MV Stena Immaculate was carrying 18,000 tonnes of jet fuel operating under a short-term charter to the US Navy. The Solong, meanwhile, was transporting 15 containers of sodium cyanide, a highly toxic chemical, and an unspecified quantity of alcohol.

The collision occurred just before 10am on Monday, 10th March in an area of the North Sea off the coast of Hull, triggering a large-scale response from emergency services. The event unfolded as the US oil tanker, MV Stena Immaculate, sustained a ruptured cargo tank containing Jet-A1 fuel after its collision with the Solong. 

A fire broke out as a result of the allusion and fuel was reportedly released. 

Footage of the incident showed both ships on fire, with flames spreading across the water and clouds of black smoke coming from the oil tanker. 

While jet fuel is a light fuel which evaporates far quicker than persistent oils such as crude oil, they still pose a significant risk to the marine environment as a result of explosions and the potential toxicity of their fumes which can be harmful to humans and animals. This has been highlighted as particularly troubling given the proximity of the collision to declining harbour porpoise populations that come to the surface to breathe.

The exact extent of harm is still unclear due to multiple unknown variables.

Hugo Tagholm, executive director of Oceana UK, said: “This tragic event shows once again that spills occur everywhere Big Oil goes, be it drilling the ocean floor or transporting fossil fuels around the world. We are now seeing toxic oil pouring from the 183 metre-long tanker into – or very near – a sensitive area designated to protect declining harbour porpoises. As these animals are forced to come to the surface, they risk inhaling poisonous fumes and choking on oil.”

While a spokesperson from Greenpeace UK said it was monitoring the situation “very closely” but that it was too early to assess the extent of any environmental damage right now, concerns have been expressed that the reverberations of this oil spill could be felt for years to come.

Eight years on from the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, for instance, and bottlenose dolphins in the area still showed signs of lung disease. Meanwhile, livelihoods in the North East could well be threatened, too as oil contamination has the potential to impact commercial fish populations as well as the shellfish industry.

“We cannot afford to turn a blind eye to the destruction this industry causes,” said Tagholm. “Ending the era of Big Oil and building a future powered by clean, renewable energy is paramount, for UK seas, for our communities, and our future.”

It was initially reported that all those aboard both the MV Stena Immaculate oil tanker and the Solong cargo ship had been brought ashore, with one person hospitalized. However, the Solong’s owner – the shipping firm Ernst Russ – later said that a search was underway for a missing crew member, while its 13 other crew were safe.

This morning, HM Coastguard confirmed that the efforts to recover the missing crew member had been called off, following an “extensive search”. 

Matthew Atkinson, divisional commander for HM Coastguard, said: “36 crew members were taken safely to shore, one person was taken to hospital.

“One crew member of the Solong remains unaccounted for. After an extensive search for the missing crew member, sadly they have not been found and the search has ended.

“The two vessels remain on fire and coastguard aircraft are monitoring the situation. An assessment of any required counter-pollution response is being carried out by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.”

According to the ship tracking tool Vesselfinder the US-flagged tanker was at anchor at the time of the incident. It had departed from a Greek port in the Aegean Sea and was heading towards Hull, according to the Maritime Traffic website. The Solong was headed for Rotterdam.

New concerns have emerged that the Solong cargo ship was carrying highly toxic chemicals, including sodium cyanide – a “very toxic material” according to Paul Johnston, principal scientist at Greenpeace Research Labs. Talking to The Independent, he added: “It has been used in the past for poisoning fish deliberately.”

Toxic waste like this spilling into the North Sea could devastate marine life and sea birds.

Labour MP, Matthew Pennycook told Times Radio this morning that the Government was “alive to the potential impacts on the environment” adding that 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,” he said. “It’s a fast-moving and dynamic situation, but all the necessary services are on the ground, both investigating and taking the immediate steps required.” 

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