GOWRS Members are on standby after being informed by one of its members, the RSPCA, of a collision between two vessels in the North Sea. The collision between the tanker, Stena Immaculate, and the container vessel Solong, resulted in both vessels catching fire and a large quantity of aircraft fuel being spilled.
GOWRS Coordinator, Adam Grogan, said “Seeing incidents like this makes us very concerned for the impact it will have on the environment and on the wild animals that are present in the area. The collision occurred close to large seabird colonies so the possible impacts could be huge. However, the reports from the Marine and Coastguard Agency indicate that most of the spilt fuel has burned off. There also appears to be no evidence of bunker fuel leaking either, although reports are mixed on this. Both ships appear to be able to stay afloat so now we are waiting for the salvage operations to begin.
“We are aware of reports that other pollutants, such as plastic nurdles, were spilt in the incident and have started washing up on local beaches. These nurdles can also cause problems for wild animals, but we understand that clean up operations are underway.
GOWRS will continue to monitor the situation and is ready to assist the RSPCA if required. However, we all hope that a wildlife rescue will not be required.