After two vessels collided in the North Sea this week, off the coast of Hull, the captain of a containership has now been arrested by Humberside Police.
One crew member seemingly lost their life when the containership ‘Solong’ crashed into the anchored ‘Stena Immaculate’ on Monday March 10th. Searches to find the merchant seaman were unsuccessful and he remains missing, presumed dead.
The oil tanker was carrying 220,000 barrels of jet fuel for the US military, which was the likely cause of several explosions immediately following the collision. Firefighters continued to fight blazes on the ships for over 48 hours.
36 crew members, from America, Russia and the Philippines, were taken safely to shore and are understood to be helping police with the investigation, which has so far seen the Russian captain arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter.
Goods aboard the ‘Solong’ are very likely to be unsalvageable and the ship is expected to sink in the North Sea some time soon.
This incident serves as a reminder to check that your shipments are always covered by cargo insurance. For information on our policies, please contact a member of the Global Freight team.
