11 hours Ago
Winds are currently blowing north east from the north off the East Yorkshire coast, where the Portuguese vessel Solong and US tanker Stena Immaculate collided on Monday morning (March 10). A Met Office spokesperson told The Press it means the winds are blowing in the opposite direction of North Yorkshire. Therefore, any oil that has entered the water from the crash site, about 13 miles from Hull, would be blown south, they said.
Winds are expected to continue to blow from the north, gradually easing towards the weekend, the spokesperson added. The Solong container ship drifts off the coast of East Yorkshire following a collision with the MV Stena Immaculate oil tanker, operating as part of the US government's Tanker Security Programme, on Monday (March 10) (Image: Danny Lawson/PA Wire) Crowley, the maritime company managing the Stena Immaculate, said a jet fuel spill from that vessel has had a “limited” impact. It remains unclear how much Jet A1 fuel was released when the ship was hit by Solong, but an initial review shows it had evaporated due to exposure to fires on both vessels.
Martin Slater, director of operations at Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, previously described the incident as “very worrying” and said the charity is “following developments closely". The Yorkshire Wildlife Trust said East Yorkshire’s coast is home to protected and significant colonies of seabirds including puffins, razorbills, gannets and kittiwakes. Dr Alex Lukyanov, researcher on advanced mathematical models of oil spills from the University of Reading, said the “environmental toll could be severe”.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said Solong is now expected to stay afloat, while HM Coastguard said it has attached a tow line to the vessel and it is offshore “in a safer position”. A salvage plan for both ships is currently being developed as the clean-up efforts enter a third day. The Solong container ship drifts off the coast of East Yorkshire following a collision with the MV Stena Immaculate oil tanker, operating as part of the US government's Tanker Security Programme, on Monday (March 10) (Image: Danny Lawson/PA Wire) Assistant chief coastguard John Craig said: “A comprehensive counter-pollution response is in place and HM Coastguard continues to make preparations for any pollution that may occur as a result of the damage to the vessels.
“The MCA’s [Maritime and Coastguard Agency] concern in relation to tanks on the Solong has reduced with tugs now able to work in close vicinity. “The threat from the previously identified dangerous goods on board has reduced significantly. Air quality sampling onshore has shown no toxins and modelling from the Met Office indicates no threat to the public.
” Ms Alexander said she was “reassured” to hear sodium cyanide containers on board the Solong were empty, and was “also pleased to have been informed that early indications suggest that both vessels are now expected to stay afloat”. Meanwhile, the under-arrest captain of the Solong is Russian, the vessel’s owner Ernst Russ has said. The 59-year-old was arrested by Humberside Police on Tuesday on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter.
This morning (Wednesday, March 12) the force said the suspect “remains in our custody”. A Solong crew member is presumed dead after a search-and-rescue operation was ended on Monday evening..
