UK Arrests Container Ship Captain After Tanker Collision

The UK police have arrested the captain of a container ship that collided with a tanker carrying jet fuel in the North Sea earlier this week, “on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter in connection with the collision,” according to an AP report.

Unnamed sources told Reuters earlier in the week that no malicious activity was suspected in the accident, which set both vessels on fire.

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The owner of the container ship, Ernst Russ, said that both the captain “and our entire team are actively assisting with the investigations,” the AP reported. The collision is currently under investigation, to be led by the U.S. and Portugal because of the vessel ownership. The UK authorities are also monitoring the situation for environmental damage but for now there were no signs of pollution or other damage to the environment from the vessels.

The container ship collided with the tanker earlier this week, off the coast of East Yorkshire. The full crew of the Stena Immaculate tanker was accounted for but one of the 14 members of the container ship’s crew was still missing as of Tuesday. The UK coast guard rescued a total of 36 people after the accident, Sky News reported. The search for the missing crew member of the container ship, Portuguese-flagged Solong, was called off.

The tanker, per Reuters, was operated by a U.S. logistics company, Crowley, carrying jet fuel for the U.S. Navy but wasd anchored off the coast of Hull when the Solong struck it.

“Both vessels have sustained significant damage in the impact of the collision and the subsequent fire,” the owner of the container ship, Ernst Russ, said in a statement. “13 of the 14 Solong crew members have been brought safely shore. Efforts to locate the missing crew member are ongoing,” the statement, from Monday, also said.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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