Fears of an environmental disaster eased on Wednesday, two days after a container ship ploughed into a stationary U.S. fuel tanker off northeast England, as the vessel's owner said the detained captain
Fears of an environmental disaster eased on Wednesday, two days after a container ship ploughed into a stationary U.S. fuel tanker off northeast England, as the vessel's owner said the detained captain was a Russian national.
The Portuguese-flagged Solong had crashed with no obvious explanation into the larger Stena Immaculate, a tanker carrying jet fuel for the U.S. military.
Huge fires and explosions charred the Solong and left the Immaculate with a gaping hole, but owner Stena Bulk said most of its jet fuel cargo remained intact.
Stena Bulk Chief Executive Erik Hanell said only two of 18 fuel tanks had leaked, or about 10% of the cargo.
"We will have a much clearer picture in the next 24-48 hours on the whole salvage operation," he told Reuters.
Fuel leaked into the sea on Monday, raising fears for protected bird colonies, but the British coastguard said there had been no further reports of pollution from either vessel since then.
Fires on the Solong, which was being held in position by a tug, were greatly reduced on Wednesday, while no flames were visible on the Stena Immaculate, the coastguard said.
British police have arrested Solong's 59-year-old captain on suspicion of gross
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