Tuesday, 11 March 2025

Unfathomable Negligence

I'm sure all will come out during the inquiry into the North Sea collision between  two tankers, the Solong and the Stena Immaculate which was laden with jet fuel and was entirely stationary ten miles off the coast of Hull when it was hit.
Over 24 hours later, the Solong is still ablaze and drifting out of control in the North Sea and experts are saying that it's initial assessment reports suggest it is unlikely to stay afloat and the East Coast has the potential to seee an environmental disaster.
A Downing Street spokesman has said that there is no suggestions of foul play and data from MarineTraffic appears to show the Solong was travelling at 16 knots (18 mph) in clear visibility but there was no suggestion yet of exactly what happened.
It is hard to work out how with all the technical equipment on board and with clear visibility, a tanker can plough straight into another one, at 183 meters and 49,729 tonnes it should be easy to see especially as it was anchored.  
One sailor remains missing from the Solong but it can only be an unfathomable amount of negligence from the Solong crew that led to the disaster.