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- Images showed a huge plume of thick, black smoke and flames rising from the scene about 16 kilometres off the coast.
- A spokesperson for UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the situation “extremely concerning”.
- All crew members on board the tanker, owned by Swedish shipowner Stena Bulk, were confirmed to be alive.
Two maritime security sources said there was no indication of any malicious activity or other actors involved in the incident.
The Solong is carrying 15 containers of sodium cyanide, a toxic chemical used mainly in gold mining, and an unknown quantity of alcohol, according to a casualty report from maritime data provider Lloyd’s List Intelligence.
A Greenpeace spokesperson said any impact would depend on factors including the amount and type of oil carried by the tanker, the fuel carried by both ships, and how much of that, if any, had entered the water, plus the weather conditions.
The incident occurred in a busy waterway, with traffic running from the ports along Britain’s northeast coast to the Netherlands and Germany, shipping industry sources said.
