Cliff Notes
- The US oil tanker Stena Immaculate is set to have over 200,000 barrels of jet fuel removed following its collision with the container ship Solong in the North Sea earlier this month.
- The Solong’s captain is facing charges of gross negligence manslaughter, while a missing sailor from the vessel is presumed dead; thirty-six individuals were rescued from both ships.
- A clean-up operation for nurdles, plastic pellets released during the incident, is ongoing along the Norfolk coast, posing potential risks to local wildlife.
Plan for US oil tanker involved in North Sea collision announced | UK News
A US oil tanker that collided with a container ship in the North Sea is set to have its cargo of more than 200,000 barrels of jet fuel removed this weekend.
The Stena Immaculate and Portuguese vessel the Solong collided about 12 miles off the coast of East Yorkshire earlier this month, leaving one man missing, presumed dead.
Shipping company Crowley, which manages the Stena Immaculate, said salvage and recovery operations will move into the next phase on Saturday and Sunday.
The remaining 202,485 barrels of Jet-A1 cargo will be transferred to a tanker anchored nearby, it said.
The jet fuel will then be delivered to its original destination of Killingholme in Lincolnshire, Crowley added.
The Solong arrived in Aberdeen on Friday after being towed to the city’s port.
Thirty-six people were rescued from both ships following the collision on 10 March. A sailor from the Solong – named as 38-year-old Filipino national Mark Angelo Pernia – is missing and presumed dead.
The Solong’s Russian captain Vladimir Motin has been remanded in custody, charged with gross negligence manslaughter. He is due to stand trial in January 2026.
After the jet fuel is removed, the Stena Immaculate will be towed to the Port of Tyne on the North East coast, near Newcastle, for further inspection, which is expected to take place in early April.
Following the collision, thousands of plastic pellets, known as nurdles, were released from ruptured containers on the Solong.
They began washing up on beaches on the Norfolk coast, where a clean-up operation is continuing.
The National Trust said nurdles had appeared on Brancaster Beach in Norfolk and the RSPB confirmed they had washed up at the charity’s reserve at nearby Titchwell.
While the plastic pellets are not toxic, they can be a risk to wildlife if ingested.