Greenpeace says it has “serious concerns” about the threat to marine life posed by the cargoes and bunker fuel of both the chemical tanker and container ship that collided off the Yorkshire coast close to environmentally sensitive areas on Monday.
The 183m-long Stena Immaculate was anchored off Immingham on the northeast English coast when it was hit by the 140m-long Solong, which was on passage to Rotterdam.
According to the Humber Coastguard, the chemical tanker Stena Immaculate was carrying jet fuel for the US military that may now be leaking into the North Sea.
One of 32 casualties taken to hospital still remained there last night, with the others being discharged, but one crew member of the cargo vessel was reported on Monday night to be missing.
Greenpeace quotes Lloyds List intelligence as stating that the cargo ship was carrying 15 containers of sodium cyanide, a highly toxic chemical, and the integrity of the cargoes overall is unknown.
“Concerns also remain about other substances which could be released, including the heavier fuel oils used to power the ships,”it says.
“The most recent data from ship tracking site MarineTraffic reported the tanker as being ‘partially laden’ when it was hit by the cargo ship, and information from Bloomberg/Kepler shows that the tanker was holding 140,000 barrels of jet fuel while at anchor near Hull,”it says.
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has said that jet fuels are toxic to marine life, Greenpeace notes.
The incident took place near a known breeding area for harbour porpoises as well as nature reserves and sites of special scientific interest, it says.
Dr Paul Johnston, a senior scientist at the Greenpeace Research Laboratories at Exeter University, said that “as more information emerges about what the ships were carrying, we are extremely concerned about the multiple toxic hazards these chemicals could pose to marine life”.
“The jet fuel that entered the water close to a breeding ground for harbour porpoises is toxic to fish and other sea creatures,”he said.
“ While we don’t know about the status of the containers holding sodium cyanide, we’re dealing with a highly toxic chemical that could cause serious harm. Any release of bunker fuel could also pose serious risks to nearby nature sanctuaries,”Johnston said.
“Authorities need to urgently assess the situation and put in place measures to contain the release of jet fuel and any other toxic substances from the two vessels where possible. We must hope an environmental disaster can be averted,”he said.
However, Dr Mark Hartl, a marine ecotoxicologist from the Centre for Marine Biodiversity and Biotechnology at Heriot-Watt University, said that “whilst the images look worrying, from the perspective of the impact to the aquatic environment it’s less of a concern than if this had been crude oil because most of the jet fuel will evaporate very quickly”.
“Also, the fact that it happened out at sea and not closer to land or within an estuary setting is fortuitous and will minimize the environmental impact,”he told the Science Media Centre in Britain.
“ However, it will have an acute effect on organisms in the immediate aftermath of the spill and lead to various degrees of stress in exposed animals. There must also be a concern that heavier ship fuel was spilled as a consequence of the collision which could have a more lasting effect on the coastline,” he said.
Prof Mark Sephton, professor of organic geochemistry at Imperial College London, said “the fact that it is jet fuel is significant”.
“ Jet fuel is dominated by relatively small hydrocarbons, compared to the more diverse and sometimes larger organic structures found in crude oil. Smaller hydrocarbons are very attractive to bacteria who will degrade them more quickly than larger molecules - called ‘biodegradation’,” he said.
“The fact that we are moving into warmer temperatures will also speed up biodegradation rates. In the end it all depends on the rate of introduction of fuel and the rate of destruction by bacteria. Let’s hope the latter wins out,” he said.
The incident is being investigated by Britain’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch.
