LONDON — United States, Portuguese and British authorities are investigating
what caused a cargo ship to collide with an oil tanker carrying jet fuel for the
U.S. military off the coast of eastern England Monday.
With the fire still blazing, British government minister Matthew Pennycook said
Tuesday morning the three governments were working together after the crash set
both vessels alight and triggered a major rescue operation.
But he refused to speculate on potential causes, including foul play.
The U.S. Stena Immaculate chemical tanker was carrying around 35 million liters
of aviation fuel for the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command. The fuel has a
high boiling point, meaning it evaporates slowly and is relatively toxic.
It collided with the Portuguese Solong vessel, which had 15 containers of
toxic sodium cyanide on its cargo. CBS News cited an unnamed American sailor on
board the Stena Immaculate who said “a massive ship came from out of the blue”
and collided with the tanker.
One crew member from the Solong is still missing, with a search called off last
night. Its other 13 members are accounted for, with all 23 crew members on the
Stena Immaculate also accounted for.
Pressed on the incident Tuesday, Pennycook told the BBC that the U.K. coast
guard and emergency services were responding to a “particularly fast-moving,
dynamic situation.”
“There’s only a certain amount I can say at this point in time, but
investigations are taking place as to the causes of the crash,” the British
government minister said.
“That’s led by U.S. and Portuguese authorities as the flag states for the ships
concerned, but it’s being assisted by U.K. authorities and the appropriate
authorities in terms of … the potential environmental impact.”
He added: “The fire is still raging. So as I say, it’s a dynamic situation, but
we think in terms of things like air quality levels, they are within safe limits
as things stand.”
Pressed on whether the government could rule out foul play, Pennycook said: “I’m
certainly not going to add to that speculation about the causes of the crash. I
think what is appropriate is that investigation is allowed to take place.”
He vowed the three countries would “get to the bottom of why this incident
happened.”
The U.S. Coast Guard confirmed Monday night it was sending investigators to the
U.K. to assist the probe.
A Coast Guard spokesperson said it was “actively engaged with the United
Kingdom’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch and Portugal’s Marine Safety
Investigation Authority to coordinate joint evidence-collection efforts” at the
scene of the crash.
“Investigators from the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. National Transportation Safety
Board are deploying to the United Kingdom to conduct the investigation over the
coming days,” they added.
Karl Mathiesen contributed to this report.