(LONDON) — A fire burning onboard two ships that collided Monday in the North Sea appeared in aerial footage to have been largely put out, although a shipping official told BBC News it would be “premature” to say the fire on the tanker had been extinguished.
A Portuguese container ship collided with a U.S.-flagged oil tanker while the tanker was anchored in the North Sea, on the eastern coast of England, with both ships catching on fire, officials said Monday.
“There will be an investigation,” said Martyn Boyers, chief executive of the Port of Grimsby. “With all the technology that these vessels have, there’s no way it should have happened.”
The U.S. ship was identified as the Stena Immaculate, while the Portuguese-flagged container ship was identified as the Solong. Both ships sustained significant damage and were abandoned by their crews.
Thirty-six people between the two ships were safely brought to shore, with one person transported to a hospital, the U.K. coast guard said.
One of the Solong’s crew members remains missing in the wake of the collision, while the other 13 were brought safely to shore, according to Ernst Russ, the manager of the container vessel.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti, Mark Osborne and Meredith Deliso contributed to this report.
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