North Sea collision

[KenAdams]

Two ships have collided in the North Sea, one carrying A1 jet fuel.

Aside from the environmental impact which is yet to be determined, one of the ships was anchored. How do you not see an anchored ship?! Possibly it was foggy?

This is all rather beside the point. It will either be determined to be human error or mechanical failure or a combination of the two. What really happened we will never know.

@Mirabai

Since my pp I’m seeing reports now that the MAIB may have been pulled off the case/police have taken primacy..so your suspicions may be correct…

Can’t think some at the MAIB will be too happy about that.

Vessel tracker is saying that even after the Solong hit the US tanker, it continued to ram against the side of the ship without without stopping. Where was everyone on board?!

I'm assuming that, given the tons of containers on that ship, it's not an easy to stop at short notice if an emergency arises.

I agree. I expect we won't find out the real story for decades (whenever it is official records are released)

Ships these days have AIS as well as radar. There's no way this was an accident.

I reckon you will but the police getting involved at a formal level before the MAIB might make things more protracted.

I’ve seen a bit of comment elsewhere from those who have been to sea saying it’s all very well having collision warning systems, radar, etc, but you need someone on the bridge to respond to them……………….any mariners around here who can comment?

Wonder if that line of thought and perhaps something somebody has already said might be a factor in how rapidly the police have stepped in….

Think in miles. Depends on the size of the ship and it's speed but it's not stopping anytime soon. I'm sure someone good at maths could give us an idea. Say 30k tonnes at 15 knots. But depends also on winds, water depth, hull size. Bigger ships obv take longer.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/mar/12/captain-arrested-over-uk-ship-collision-is-russian-owner-says

Well that's unfortunate.

Least surprising news ever.

There's no way this is a coincidence.

Great to see minds made up already with the accident happening maybe 48 hours ago and absolutely no evidence/statements from those directly involved yet in the public domain.

Hopefully some people posting don’t work in safety critical industries or in accident investigation.

In a small amount of good news this article also states that contrary to initial reports there was no cyanide aboard the ship.

I have spent a lot of time working at sea.
I think it is reasonable to form an opinion when something so incredibly unusuals happens, and it to involves a Russian captain with an empty ship colliding inexplicably with a tanker full of US military fuel

There are deep shipping channels in the Humber estuary, where the tankers wait, to be able to move at high tide. But from the video mock up they showed on the news last night, it looked like the travelling ship was coming downwards and across the moored one, not along, if that makes sense? It seemed odd to me, knowing how they operate usually.
The other strange thing is that after it had collided with the moored tanker, it kept drifting southwards. Justin Rowlatt on the news this morning said it was drifting. That actually made me wonder if there had been a power outage or a mechanical fault they couldn't rectify, so they couldn't get the vessel under control? I'm assuming they can't just drop anchor to stop themselves?
It is all very odd to say the least.
I worry for the seals and pups at Donna Nook, the pups aren't weaned yet.
I lived on the outskirts of Grimsby for 6 years in my teens. And I'm going back on Friday to stay with my friend of 40+ years until Monday! Her husband worked on the docks in Grimsby, he goes down there every week for a catch up. If I find anything else out, I'll let you know!

@MoonWoman69 enjoy your visit. We have beautiful sunshine at the minute!

Apparently the ship has failed its last four safety audits and was an accident waiting to happen.

Thanks @Rowgtfc72 It's set to be a fine, dry weekend too! Looking forward to the break and the catch up! x

Wow - you can fail that many audits and still be allowed to sail?!

When this was first reported as a tanker carrying aircraft fuel for the US air force I thought there would be a Russian aspect to this. The captain of the container ship has probably been bribed or blackmailed to do this.

Aren't the Russians and Americans chums at the moment thanks to Tango Trump?

In so far as they are "chums" it is a very toxic friendship

I’d assume some kind of military grade tech hack may be involved. I understand it’s easier to hack ships than planes from the evidence of real world cases.