London
CNN
—
Britain’s coastguard has launched an emergency response after reports of a collision between an oil tanker and cargo vessel in the North Sea, off England’s northeastern coast.
The UK coastguard said it has sent a helicopter and lifeboats from nearby towns, as well as “vessels with fire-fighting capability,” to respond to the incident.
“A coastguard rescue helicopter from Humberside was called, alongside lifeboats from Skegness, Bridlington, Maplethorpe [sic] and Cleethorpes, an HM Coastguard fixed-wing aircraft, and nearby vessels with firefighting capability,” it said.
The incident is believed to involve a US-flagged tanker called the Stena Immaculate, which was at anchor off the coast near the city of Hull, according to the ship tracking tool MarineTraffic.
The collision is believed to have occurred off the coast close to the city of Hull.
The alarm was raised at 9:48 a.m. local time (5.48 a.m. ET) and the incident “remains ongoing,” the coastguard said.
The BBC, citing sources, said the tanker involved has caught fire. CNN could not immediately verify the claim.
This is a developing story and will be updated.