Ship crash off UK coast

[John Bredin]

News account. Another news account.

I'm a bit surprised there's been no discussion of this ongoing incident. Tanker Stena Immaculate, a U.S.-flagged tanker (a rarity in itself, as I understand it) carrying jet fuel for the U.S. Navy was at anchor near the mouth of the Humber on the U.K.'s east coast when the container ship Solong came barreling down the coast at 16 knots (16 knots doesn't sound fast to this landlubber, but I gather from the commentators that 16 knots is really fast for this kind of ship) in a straight line and t-boned Stena Immaculate.

Between the obvious fault here -- the equivalent of a parked car rammed at 60mph by a car that bore down on it -- and the spilled fuel on fire, it sounds like big news. Here's an interesting and informative video from a shipping YouTuber.

 

[caravanman]

We are aware of the accident here in the UK, with concerns about pollution, etc. Sounds like one life lost.

Although these are massive ships, they often have minimal crew on board.

I guess the Solong was on autopilot of some sort... It would be more fun to imagine the helmsman being off his head on rum though...

 

[tgstubbs1]

16 knots could be their cruise speed, it's 18.4 mph or amost 30 km/h.
I doubt a cargo ship can go a whole lot faster than that, although I know some ships can go about twice that speed. I think some ships routinely cruise under 10 knots.

 

[Asher]

We are aware of the accident here in the UK, with concerns about pollution, etc. Sounds like one life lost.

Although these are massive ships, they often have minimal crew on board.

I guess the Solong was on autopilot of some sort... It would be more fun to imagine the helmsman being off his head on rum though...

Somebody’s head’s gonna roll.

 

[Stevenz]

16 knots is pretty fast for a many-thousand tons thing to be moving. It packs a wallop. The video in John Bredin’s post tells you all you need to know, at least at the time of recording. I’ve watched his stuff before. He’s very good.

 

[Brian Battuello]

The second item above "Another news Account" has a live stream with the latest news.

Apparently there is one fatality, and the captain of the container ship has been detained. Both ships are still afloat and a number of things have gone right to avoid a serious environmental disaster.

 

[Asher]

16 knots could be their cruise speed, it's 18.4 mph or amost 30 km/h.
I doubt a cargo ship can go a whole lot faster than that, although I know some ships can go about twice that speed. I think some ships routinely cruise under 10 knots.

I don’t know what the sea or traffic conditions were at the time of the accident, container ships normally cruise at 16 to 27 Kts. and at that speed can cover a lot water in a hurry. The Tanker was anchored so there shouldn’t have been any confusion about direction and right of way. Somebody on the bridge of the Container Ship wasn’t paying attention. In my estimation.

 

[BlackDiamond]

I was curious if there was any relation between Stena Immaculate and the Stena Line which provides ferries such as the Holyhead to Dublin ferry across the Irish Sea. Turns out that the ship is owned by Stena Bulk a division of the Swedish Stena Company which also owns the Stena Line ferry service. The Stena Immaculate is actually being operated and managed by Crowley a US based marine logistics company, under a 6 month contract to the US Navy to deliver jet fuel to US Navy installations in the UK.

 

[Traveller]

I don’t know what the sea or traffic conditions were at the time of the accident, container ships normally cruise at 16 to 27 Kts. and at that speed can cover a lot water in a hurry. The Tanker was anchored so there shouldn’t have been any confusion about direction and right of way. Somebody on the bridge of the Container Ship wasn’t paying attention. In my estimation.

It was sailing through a designated offshore mooring

 

[Asher]

It was sailing through a designated offshore mooring

As if nothing was moored there.