The wealth of marine life and seabirds along the East Yorkshire coast may be at risk as a result of yesterday's North Sea collision of an oil tanker and a cargo ship.
The Portuguese-flagged cargo ship, the Solong, was previously thought to have been carrying 15 containers of highly toxic sodium cyanide when it struck the tanker. The US-flagged Stena Immaculate, which was moored 10 miles off the coast, had 220,000 barrels of jet fuel on board, which is now leaking from the ruptured cargo tank into the water. There were widespread fears that a combination of burning jet fuel and toxic chemicals "could cause major environmental damage", said ITV News.
What did the commentators say?
Any resulting leakage and pollution, especially if it contains toxic chemicals, could have "devastating consequences", said the New Scientist. Those waters are "home to internationally significant populations of breeding seabirds", such as puffins and gannets, and on the migration routes for wading birds and waterfowl.
The company that owns the Solong, Ernst Russ, confirmed this afternoon that the ship was not, as first thought, carrying sodium cyanide at the time of the collision, just four empty containers that once held the hazardous chemical. That is "good news for wildlife", said The Times.
The leaking jet fuel from the tanker, meanwhile, is "highly volatile", so "much surface liquid" will evaporate, said Alastair Hay, a professor of environmental toxicology at the University of Leeds. According to the US-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, "aquatic organisms that come into direct contact" with jet fuel "may be killed", but "small spills in open water" may not kill large numbers of fish.
Conservation charities remain braced "for what could be nasty", said Sky News, but the extent of the environmental impact will depend on weather and sea conditions: "wind, waves and currents" all affect how spills spread. It also matters how quickly any spills can be cleaned up. "Usually the slower the response, the worse the impact." But with fires still burning, spewing "clouds of filthy black smoke" into the air, authorities have so far been unable to get close enough to assess the damage.
What next?
The coastguard has started estimating the "likely counter-pollution response", which might involve "numerous public bodies", said Sky News. The Solong has drifted south and could sink within hours, said Transport Minister Mike Kane. He told MPs that tugboats were in the area to "ensure the Salong remains away from the coast".
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