‘A massive fireball’: Fuel tanker and cargo ship collide in the North Sea

London: A cargo ship hit a tanker carrying jet fuel off the coast of eastern England on Monday, setting both vessels alight and triggering a major rescue operation, emergency services said.

At least 32 people were taken ashore, but their conditions were not immediately clear. The operator of the tanker said all of its crew members were safe.

The US-flagged chemical and oil products tanker MV Stena Immaculate was at anchor near the port of Grimsby on Monday morning after sailing from Greece, according to ship-tracking site VesselFinder.

The cargo vessel, Portugal-flagged container ship Solong, was sailing from Grangemouth in Scotland to Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

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US-based Crowley Ship Management, which operates the Stena Immaculate, said the tanker sustained a ruptured cargo tank containing Jet-A1 fuel when the container ship struck it, triggering a fire and multiple explosions. Fuel is reported to have been released into the sea.

The company said all the mariners on the tanker were safe.

Martyn Boyers, chief executive of the Port of Grimsby East, said 13 casualties were taken ashore on a Windcat 33 high-speed vessel, followed by another 19 on a harbour pilot boat.

Britain’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency said several lifeboats and a coastguard rescue helicopter were dispatched to the North Sea, along with a coastguard plane.