Praise for heroic action of Stena Immaculate crew

Salvage experts with SMIT Salvage are continuing onboard assessments of Stena Immaculate, say statements from the vessel operator Crowley and owner Stena Bulk. Yesterday, Sunday, March 16, the third-party salvage team confirmed that damage resulting from the containership Solong striking the Stena Immaculate was limited to one cargo tank containing Jet-A1 fuel and one ballast tank containing sea water.

“Before being forced to abandon ship, the crew had the dedication and presence of mind to ensure fire monitors were active in order to provide boundary cooling water to the adjacent cargo tanks. Their heroic action limited damage to only the cargo tanks impacted due to the allision,” said Cal Hayden, vice president, Crowley global ship management. “We remain fully committed to supporting the U.K. response to the striking of the Stena Immaculate and any environmental remediation.” At the time of the strike, the Stena Immaculate was carrying 220,000 barrels of Jet-A1 fuel. Based on an assessment by the salvage team, it has been confirmed that 17,515 barrels of Jet-A1 fuel have been lost due to the impact and fire. The remaining cargo and bunkers are secure.

The U.K.’s HM Coastguard position remains that there continues to be no cause for concern for pollution from the tanker. The salvage process is ongoing and will take time to complete. A salvage and tow plan will be finalized working with the appropriate authorities. 

In its most recent update on the incident, the U.K. Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) says that on, notification of the incident, it immediately deployed a team of inspectors to Grimsby to begin a preliminary assessment. MAIB has since been joined by representatives from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, the U..S Coast Guard and Marine Safety Investigation Authority Portugal. Having consulted with those flag state authorities, agreement has been made that the Marine Accident Investigation Branch will lead the safety investigation with Portugal and the United States acting as substantially interested states.

The priority has been to allow the emergency services the time to undertake search and rescue operations, secure the vessels and assess the environmental impact. While this work has been ongoing, MAIB’s enquiries have focused on gathering witness accounts and obtaining digital data. Once it is safe to do so MAIB will conduct a detailed inspection of both vessels and manage the retrieval of the Voyage Data Recorders (VDR) from both vessels.

The purpose of the MAIB investigation will be to establish the cause of events that led to this tragic accident, understand why it happened, and make recommendations to prevent similar accidents recurring. From the initial enquiries made it is known that Solong frequently traveled between Grangemouth and Rotterdam and regularly used the route it took on the day of the collision. On Monday morning at 0130 UTC, Solong passed to the east of the Longstone lighthouse and altered course onto a heading of approximately 150° at a speed of about 16.4 knots. At 0947 UTC it struck the Stena Immaculate that was at anchor off the entrance to the River Humber. 36 crew from both vessels were recovered but tragically one member of crew from Solong remains unaccounted for.

As well as continuing to gather witness accounts, further investigation work will look to establish the navigational practices on board both vessels; the manning and fatigue management; the condition and maintenance of the vessels involved; and the environmental conditions at the time.