Thirty-two casualties brought ashore and vessels ablaze after collision in North Sea – live

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The BBC has reported that all crew on the Stena Immaculate are accounted for and safe.

Business reporter Jonathan Josephs says he has spoken to the chief executive of Stena Bulk, Erik Hanell, who said all of the oil tanker crew were safe, but would not be drawn to comment further about the cause of the collision.

The two vessels involved in the collision are both large vessels. The Stena Immaculate is a 183 metre-long (600 feet) oil tanker, and the cargo vessel Solong is 140 metres long (460 feet).

North sea collision – what we know so far …

• 32 casualties have been brought ashore in Grimsby after an oil tanker and a cargo vessel collided about 10 miles off the coast of East Yorkshire

• Lifeboats and a coastguard helicopter were called to the collision in the Humber estuary on Monday morning, believed to involve a US-flagged tanker called the MV Stena Immaculate, and a Rotterdam-bound cargo vessel the Solong

• A HM Coastguard spokesperson said “The alarm was raised at 9.48am”. They said “A coastguard rescue helicopter from Humberside was called, alongside lifeboats from Skegness, Bridlington, Maplethorpe and Cleethorpes, an HM Coastguard fixed wing aircraft, and nearby vessels with fire-fighting capability. The incident remains ongoing”

• Transport secretary Heidi Alexander said: “I’m concerned to hear of the collision between two vessels in the North Sea this morning and am liaising with officials and HM Coastguard as the situation develops”

• Not all of the crew of the two ships is believed to be accounted for yet. Tracking data appears to show the Solong hit the Stena Immaculate when it was anchored

• Chief executive of the Port of Grimsby East, Martyn Boyers says that he was told a “massive fireball” was seen after the collision. Video footage appears to show the aftermath with the vessels on fire

32 casualties now reported to have been brought ashore at Grimsby

PA Media has just issued a snap saying a further nine people have been brought ashore to Grimsby, taking the total number of casualties rescued from the collision to 32. Their condition remains unclear.

Transport secretary 'concerned' to hear about vessel collision and fire off coast

Transport secretary Heidi Alexander has expressed concern about the collision and thanked emergency workers who are dealing with the situation.

The Labour MP for Swindon South said “I’m concerned to hear of the collision between two vessels in the North Sea this morning and am liaising with officials and HM Coastguard as the situation develops. I want to thank all emergency service workers involved for their continued efforts in responding to the incident.”

The collision is about ten miles off the East Yorkshire coast, near Grimsby, between an oil tanker and a container ship. 23 casualties are reported to have been brought ashore at Grimsby so far, but not all the crews are accounted for.

23 casualties have been brought ashore at Grimsby after collision at sea – reports

More than 20 casualties have been brought ashore at Grimsby after a collision between a tanker and a cargo ship in the North Sea, but some crew members are yet to be accounted for, a port boss has said.

PA Media reports Martyn Boyers, chief executive of the Port of Grimsby East, said 13 casualties were initially brought in on a Windcat 33 vessel, followed by another 10 on a harbour pilot boat.

The casualties’ conditions remain unclear. Boyers said he had been told there was “a massive fireball”, adding: “It’s too far out for us to see – about 10 miles – but we have seen the vessels bringing them in.

It is highly unusual for large vessels to apparently collide in daylight, but visibility may have been an issue, according to an earlier report from the Met Office. It had earlier reported “areas of fog and low cloud lifting as winds increase through the morning” in the region, predicting “warm, if rather hazy sunny spells.”

Video appears to show ships ablaze after collision

Here is a video clip which appears to show the aftermath of the collision between the Stena Immaculate and the Solong off the coast of East Yorkshire. Marine tracking appears to show that the Solong, en route to Rotterdam, struck the Stena Immaculate, which was at anchor. It is likely that between them the two vessels had about 40 members of crew.

Television images from the BBC have shown at least one vessel ablaze with clouds of black smoke billowing into the air.

The coastguard agency said a helicopter, fixed-wing aircraft, lifeboats and nearby vessels with fire-fighting capability were called to the incident, Reuters reported.

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), a lifeboat service working on the emergency response, said: “There were reports that a number of people had abandoned the vessels following a collision and there were fires on both ships.”

The area where the collision took place is a busy stretch of waterway with traffic running from the ports along Britain’s northeast coast to the Netherlands and Germany, shipping industry sources said.

The ships involved in the collision are understood to be Stena Immaculate and Solong, a Portuguese-flagged container, according to BBC News.

It reports:

On the tracking site, we can see the Immaculate at anchor and at 9:48 we can see the Solong – a Portuguese-flagged container – appear to be colliding with the tanker.

The Stena Immaculate had travelled from the Greek port of Agioi Theodoroi, and was anchored outside Hull.

The Solong, meanwhile, had been sailing from the Scottish port of Grangemouth to Rotterdam, in the Netherlands.

The United Nations shipping agency, the International Maritime Organization, is aware of the situation, and is checking further, it said.

Maritime analytics website Marine Traffic showed a number of vessels including container ships and oil tankers in the area of the North Sea where the collision occurred.

Lifeboats and a coastguard helicopter have been called to the collision in the Humber estuary, believed to involve a US-flagged tanker called the MV Stena Immaculate.

The American tanker was at anchor, according to ship tracking tool Vesselfinder, Reuters reported.

Britain’s coastguard is responding to reports of a collision between a tanker and cargo vessel off England’s northeastern coast, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said.

“A Coastguard Rescue Helicopter from Humberside was called, alongside lifeboats from Skegness, Bridlington, Maplethorpe and Cleethorpes, an HM Coastguard fixed wing aircraft, and nearby vessels with fire-fighting capability. The incident remains ongoing,” the agency said in a statement.

The alarm for the incident was raised at 9.48am. The BBC reported that the oil tanker involved in the collision was on fire. Reuters could not immediately verify that report.

UK coastguard responds to ship collision off northeast coast

An oil tanker and a cargo vessel have collided in the North Sea, with the UK coastguard providing an emergency response.

An HM Coastguard spokesperson said: “HM Coastguard is currently co-ordinating the emergency response to reports of a collision between a tanker and cargo vessel off the coast of East Yorkshire.

“The alarm was raised at 9.48am.

“A Coastguard rescue helicopter from Humberside was called, alongside lifeboats from Skegness, Bridlington, Maplethorpe and Cleethorpes, an HM Coastguard fixed wing aircraft, and nearby vessels with fire-fighting capability.

“The incident remains ongoing.”