Oil tanker crash could be most ‘catastrophic’ spill for UK birds in decades

The environmental damage caused by the North Sea tanker collision could be “catastrophic” for birds and marine life due to its proximity to important nature sites, experts have warned.

Rescuers are battling to contain the effects of the toxic oil spill off the coast of East Yorkshire, which could become one of the worst UK environmental disasters in decades.

On Monday, a Portuguese cargo ship named Solong collided at speed with a US oil tanker, Stena Immaculate, causing a massive explosion.

The exact cause of the crash remains unclear, but a 59-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter. One crew member is still missing presumed dead.

Stena Immaculate was carrying 18,000 tonnes of jet fuel at the time of the crash, at least some of which is known to have spilt into the sea.

Reports initially suggested Solong was carrying sodium cyanide, however the ship’s owners, Ernst Russ, confirmed on Tuesday that the highly toxic chemical had been removed from the ship before the collision.

Jet fuel is highly toxic and can kill animals if they ingest it. While some of the fuel has burnt off into the atmosphere, experts warn any that any that is not burnt will evaporate slowly and could therefore drift to shore.

Martin Slater, deputy chief executive at the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, said the collision took place in “a really sensitive location” and the timing “couldn’t be worse” for local wildlife.

The collision took place roughly 10 miles off the coast of East Yorkshire and could affect nature sites including the Humber Estuary and Bempton Cliffs nature reserve.

Slater said it could be “catastrophic” for birds if any unburnt fuel drifted towards the shore, especially as now is the start of breeding season.

Around 500,000 seabirds, including puffins, gannets and kittiwakes, gather to breed on the chalk cliffs north of the collision site between March and August each year.

Slater said these birds will be out foraging for food for their chicks in the North Sea and could end up digesting toxic fuel.

The area is also home to dolphins and porpoises, but Slater said the hope is that these animals should know to stay away from the area due to the level of activity in the water.

He did raise concerns over fish populations and “sensitive plant communities” in the Humber Estuary that will be affected if spilt oil drifts westwards from the collision site.

“In my professional career, in the last few decades, there’s not been anything on this scale,” he said.

“One of the reasons why incidents of this sort can be really critical is that our wildlife is squeezed into the coastline and the Humber Estuary. It’s much more sensitive to these catastrophic incidents.

“Nature is already on the brink and this has got potential to really push it over that brink and have really catastrophic impacts.

Andy Teasdale, a marine safety adviser to the Institute of Marine Science, Engineering and Technology, warned that a “bigger problem” could arise if either vessel is carrying “heavy fuel to power the engines”.

“If the vessel sinks or tanks are breached, then the bunkered fuel may leak out and start to produce pollution. However, we still don’t know what fuels were on board and whether the vessels have hull damage sufficient to cause leakage of the bunkered fuel,” he said.

Experts believe the Stena Immaculate may avoid sinking due to its dual hull, however Solong is expected to sink.

Britain’s worst oil spill occurred when the SS Torrey Canyon supertanker ran aground on rocks between the Scilly Isles and Cornwall in 1967, spilling more than 100,000 tonnes of crude oil in a disaster which killed more than 15,000 sea birds in the UK and France.

Dr Leslie Mabon, senior lecturer in environmental systems at The Open University, said huge pollution events, such as the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska or the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico can have a lasting effect on the local area.

“So as fuller details of what exactly has happened over the coming days and weeks unfold, it’s going to be vital to remember these less tangible but very profound effects that an incident like this can have on the coasts and the people that live and work there,” he said.