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   Dreadnought Holiday (dreadships@mastodon.me.uk)'s status on Tuesday, 11-Mar-2025 21:25:13 JST Dreadnought Holiday

   Bit of an update on here for anybody following the collision (technically an allision) between the cargo ship Solong and tanker Stena Immaculate earlier today in the approaches to the Humber.

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     Dreadnought Holiday (dreadships@mastodon.me.uk)'s status on Tuesday, 11-Mar-2025 21:25:02 JST Dreadnought Holiday

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     Given the nature of the tanker's cargo and employment - it's shifting jet fuel for the US government - there's been a fair bit of speculation that something untoward happened here.

     It's unlikely - Solong was passing exactly along its previous track through the area and was likely on autopilot to a regular waypoint. If it wanted to ensure a collision it wouldn't necessarily line it up nine hours in advance either. There's nothing suspicious in this - just incredibly stupid.

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     Dreadnought Holiday (dreadships@mastodon.me.uk)'s status on Tuesday, 11-Mar-2025 21:25:04 JST Dreadnought Holiday

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     Solong went dark on AIS a long time ago. It's been absolutely ravaged by the fire. Stena Immaculate incredibly continues to advertise its position.

     Peter Krefting repeated this.
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     Dreadnought Holiday (dreadships@mastodon.me.uk)'s status on Tuesday, 11-Mar-2025 21:25:05 JST Dreadnought Holiday

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     The tugs having to stand off isn't a problem either. The impact dragged Stena Immaculate nearly half a mile but its anchor has successfully held both vessels. By all accounts Solong is embedded firmly in its side - unsurprising as it hit square on at 16 knots with no attempt to either slow or change course.

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     Dreadnought Holiday (dreadships@mastodon.me.uk)'s status on Tuesday, 11-Mar-2025 21:25:06 JST Dreadnought Holiday

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     As for other news you might not have caught, the vessels involved were evacuated almost immediately by a mixture of pilot vessels and windfarm support vessels - essentially the first things that could get on scene. The RNLI rightly get a lot of kudos, but seafarers of all backgrounds will kick into action to save lives where they can.

     Given the situation they faced - a tanker full of jet fuel and a boxship of unknown cargo - I hope they are given the respect they deserve for this.

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     Dreadnought Holiday (dreadships@mastodon.me.uk)'s status on Tuesday, 11-Mar-2025 21:25:08 JST Dreadnought Holiday

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     That's more or less where we are now. A number of tugs have been released and are mooching back to Grimsby, most of the smaller vessels have also left - many of them were diverted from work duties and have been out since early morning. The RNLI and some major tugs remain nearby.

     The Humber is currently closed to commercial shipping and vessels are either diverting or anchoring to wait.

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     Dreadnought Holiday (dreadships@mastodon.me.uk)'s status on Tuesday, 11-Mar-2025 21:25:09 JST Dreadnought Holiday

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     Those vessels searched until around seven pm, stopping with darkness. It's still not clear what prompted it, but an obvious concern is that they're no longer convinced the whole crew is indeed ashore.

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     Dreadnought Holiday (dreadships@mastodon.me.uk)'s status on Tuesday, 11-Mar-2025 21:25:10 JST Dreadnought Holiday

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     It was then reported, by by a local MP, that everybody had been accounted for, and the search efforts knocked off.

     Then in mid-afternoon everything changed. The tugs withdrew at least a couple of miles. This might be related to the announcement that fifteen containers of sodium cyanide were loaded on Solong, or perhaps an explosion risk.

     Half an hour later an obvious and ominous searchline formed of smaller vessels.

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     Dreadnought Holiday (dreadships@mastodon.me.uk)'s status on Tuesday, 11-Mar-2025 21:25:11 JST Dreadnought Holiday

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     This was the situation for most of the morning, with an increasing number of tugs coming to assist, and smaller vessels searching for a crew member who was rumoured to be unaccounted for.

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     Dreadnought Holiday (dreadships@mastodon.me.uk)'s status on Tuesday, 11-Mar-2025 21:25:12 JST Dreadnought Holiday

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     So this here was the position this morning. The blue vessels are tugs, red are generally rescue or pilot vessels, the greens are mostly high speed windfarm vessels. There's also some trawlers bimbling around. Solong is the yellow dot stuck in the side of the orange tanker, with an ocean going tug providing firefighting.

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     Dreadnought Holiday (dreadships@mastodon.me.uk)'s status on Sunday, 16-Mar-2025 06:04:47 JST Dreadnought Holiday

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     Saturday update - Solong and Stena Immaculate remain more or less as they were, and there's been no news released that I've seen. An insurer yesterday suggested that less than ten percent of the jet fuel aboard Immaculate had been lost, with just two tanks damaged.

     But you might remember H&S Wisdom, which had unwisely stranded itself in the upper reaches of the Humber - she whilst everyone was looking the other way it's quietly been dragged back off!

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     Dreadnought Holiday (dreadships@mastodon.me.uk)'s status on Sunday, 16-Mar-2025 06:04:48 JST Dreadnought Holiday

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     Must admit I'm slightly surprised by the speed of this, just in context of how reluctant the police and CPS generally are to prosecute this particular offence.

     This also means certain commentary is now sub judice, which is awkward because a few people have mentioned the pressures and demands on seafarers from shipowners etc.

     Ignoring this case for a moment, all I'll say is that it's possible for the maritime industry to have major issues AND for individual seamanship to be bloody awful.

     Mr. Bill repeated this.
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     Dreadnought Holiday (dreadships@mastodon.me.uk)'s status on Sunday, 16-Mar-2025 06:04:50 JST Dreadnought Holiday

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     Breaking (late Friday 14th) - the master of Solong has tonight been charged with gross negligence manslaughter

     https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp3y400xe2ro

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     Dreadnought Holiday (dreadships@mastodon.me.uk)'s status on Sunday, 16-Mar-2025 06:04:51 JST Dreadnought Holiday

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     Not much of an update today - everything is more or less where it was in terms of position. In a further sign of confidence that neither vessel is in danger of sinking Alert and Pharos (of Trinity House and the Northern Light Board) have been released. Pharos had come south as THV Patricia is going into dry dock for planned maintenance, as I understand it.

     Here's Alert's track on its way home to Harwich - it did pop over to one of the wrecks to say for a bit of Solong and goodbye on the way...

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     Dreadnought Holiday (dreadships@mastodon.me.uk)'s status on Sunday, 16-Mar-2025 06:04:52 JST Dreadnought Holiday

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     It's been confirmed that salvors were able to board Immaculate today to start assessing damage and ensure the ship is safe.

     Once that's complete and they know what they're dragging with they'll then work out a plan for towing and salvaging it.

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     Dreadnought Holiday (dreadships@mastodon.me.uk)'s status on Sunday, 16-Mar-2025 06:04:53 JST Dreadnought Holiday

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     Also, incredibly, it appears the accident was captured on video by a nearby ship. I don't think this adds much - it shows how bad visibility was though, as the operator switches to infrared to see it.

     https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/crlxe8yg33xo

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     Dreadnought Holiday (dreadships@mastodon.me.uk)'s status on Sunday, 16-Mar-2025 06:04:54 JST Dreadnought Holiday

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     In that context it's possibly significant that the seriously meaty and brilliantly Chris Foss-esque Brage Viking is currently alongside.

     An Anchor Handling Tug Supply vessel, it's an ice-capable beast with about four times the pulling power of the smaller harbour tug that's also on scene still. If Stena Immaculate moves today I wouldn't be surprised.

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     Dreadnought Holiday (dreadships@mastodon.me.uk)'s status on Sunday, 16-Mar-2025 06:04:55 JST Dreadnought Holiday

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     As for Stena Immaculate itself, the owners said yesterday there's seems to be no current pollution being released and no sheen around the vessel, which is encouraging. I've no reason to expect they'd be bullshitting as they're not on the hook for it. It's also no longer on fire at all.

     I did hear scuttlebutt that they want to get people aboard today if possible to assess its condition and hopefully get it moved so it can offload and be surveyed properly.

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     Dreadnought Holiday (dreadships@mastodon.me.uk)'s status on Sunday, 16-Mar-2025 06:04:57 JST Dreadnought Holiday

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     Further update for anybody who cares...

     Solong continues to drift generally southwards, attended by various tugs. Given the AIS tracks I suspect they've not got a brilliant tow on it and don't want to shove it around too much. It's now well clear of both the approaches and the Lincolnshire coast though.

     Stena Immaculate remains at anchor - you can see how far Solong has now drifted.

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     Dreadnought Holiday (dreadships@mastodon.me.uk)'s status on Sunday, 16-Mar-2025 06:04:58 JST Dreadnought Holiday

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     Finally for now the concern about sodium cyanide has abated.

     I'm not entirely sure what's going on there, but it's possible it took some time to confirm which containers had been loaded and what they contained. There's a long history of contents and weights being utterly different to the manifest too - potentially dangerous for both stability and not going spontaneously on fire.

     And even without the sodium cyanide there'll be plenty of other things in there that you don't want in your sushi.

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     Dreadnought Holiday (dreadships@mastodon.me.uk)'s status on Sunday, 16-Mar-2025 06:04:59 JST Dreadnought Holiday

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     It's accompanied by a tug, presumably as insurance, and also the pollution control vessel Mellum, which has come over from Germany.

     I've not heard much about pollution so far - it's going to depend on what has burnt off, what has already spilled, and what remains in breached tanks.

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     Dreadnought Holiday (dreadships@mastodon.me.uk)'s status on Sunday, 16-Mar-2025 06:05:00 JST Dreadnought Holiday

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     It remains at anchor, at a location that had probably been briefed on every passage plan going right now, with heavy amounts of underlining saying "do not hit"

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     Dreadnought Holiday (dreadships@mastodon.me.uk)'s status on Sunday, 16-Mar-2025 06:05:01 JST Dreadnought Holiday

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     Stena Immaculate meanwhile looks surprisingly healthy, considering its imminent reduction to razor blades. You can see how deeply Solong cut into it - double hulls are great and all, but they're never going to withstand this.

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     Dreadnought Holiday (dreadships@mastodon.me.uk)'s status on Sunday, 16-Mar-2025 06:05:02 JST Dreadnought Holiday

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     On which note I'm pretty sure they've moved it south of the accident site to [checks notes] the point the entrance channels converge.

     Er, maybe not letting it sink right there, lads?

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     Dreadnought Holiday (dreadships@mastodon.me.uk)'s status on Sunday, 16-Mar-2025 06:05:04 JST Dreadnought Holiday

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     Solong remains on fire, and there are reports it might sink at some point.

     I'm not sure what has sparked those reports, but I will note ALL ships leak, there's not going to be any working pumps in this mess, and they might occasionally be damping down with more water.

     At least they can try to get it to sink somewhere that's not too inconvenient.

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     Dreadnought Holiday (dreadships@mastodon.me.uk)'s status on Sunday, 16-Mar-2025 06:05:05 JST Dreadnought Holiday

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     Ok, so the news from today. Firstly, and unsurprisingly, the plod have declared their suspicion that somebody might have been a dickhead...

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     Dreadnought Holiday (dreadships@mastodon.me.uk)'s status on Sunday, 16-Mar-2025 06:05:06 JST Dreadnought Holiday

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     Update late this evening - the ships are still burning, according to the coastguard agency. Pretty much everything else has left the scene although Trinity House's Alert is now on station and I'm watching a couple of tugs that are possibly going back.

     The tanker is likely still anchored securely but it's been windier here in York this evening and I guess at some point Solong might detach itself.

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     Dreadnought Holiday (dreadships@mastodon.me.uk)'s status on Sunday, 16-Mar-2025 06:05:07 JST Dreadnought Holiday

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     Further update - looks like the Humber is open for business again. A lot of this is tugs etc returning, but there's ro-ro vessels and bulkers in here too.

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     Dreadnought Holiday (dreadships@mastodon.me.uk)'s status on Sunday, 16-Mar-2025 06:05:08 JST Dreadnought Holiday

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     And given the shitshow of alleged seamanship from Solong's bridge team today, it sticks the absolute tin lid on things that they couldn't apparently confirm how many crew should have got off the vessel until this afternoon (search efforts were definitely wound down for a while).

     I hope they have the book thrown at them.

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     Dreadnought Holiday (dreadships@mastodon.me.uk)'s status on Sunday, 16-Mar-2025 06:05:09 JST Dreadnought Holiday

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     Breaking - it looks like the search wasn't a false alarm at all. This is incredibly sad news given the reports earlier that everybody was safe.