An oil tanker and a cargo ship collided off the coast of eastern England on Monday and a major rescue operation is underway, Britain’s coast guard said.
Britain’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency said several lifeboats and a coast guard rescue helicopter were dispatched to the scene in the North Sea, along with a coast guard plane and nearby vessels with firefighting capability.
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution said “there were reports that a number of people had abandoned the vessels following a collision and there were fires on both ships.” It said three lifeboats were working on search and rescue at the scene alongside the coast guard.
BBC News reported that the oil tanker is on fire. The tanker, believed to be the U.S.-flagged chemical and oil products carrier MV Stena Immaculate, was at anchor at the time, according to ship-tracking site Vessel Finder.
The coastguard agency said the alarm was raised at 9:48 a.m. local time. The site of the collision is off the coast of Hull, about 155 miles north of London.
Mehmet Yaren Bozgun/Anadolu via Getty Images
This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.
