RNLI thanks crews who helped respond to collision off the Humber Estuary

The RNLI says its 'incredibly proud' of crews who helped rescue 36 people following the crash between a tanker and a cargo ship off the East Yorkshire coast.

A week after the vessels collided, triggering an explosion and fires which burned for a number of days, they both remain in the North Sea, with the Stena Immaculate at anchor 12 miles off Withernsea, and the Solong about 20 miles further south, off Mablethorpe.

RNLI Head of Region for the North and East, George Pickford, said:

‘We are incredibly proud of our crews who continue to respond selflessly to their pagers, day or night, to save lives at sea.

‘We want to say a huge thank you to our Bridlington, Cleethorpes, Humber, Mablethorpe and Skegness volunteers who answered the call for help, transferring casualties between vessels to be safely returned to shore and assisting in the search for the missing crew member from the Solong. We recognise their courage and dedication as they spent hours out at sea, facing challenging conditions.

‘The coordinated effort between the RNLI, HM Coastguard, Windcat vessels, ABP Humber and other nearby vessels demonstrated the lifesaving impact of working together and we want to thank them for their incredible work.

‘Our thoughts remain with the family and loved ones of the missing crew member.’

RNLI crew members have shared their first-hand accounts of the incident including Davina Silk, volunteer crew member at Mablethorpe RNLI. She said:

‘I am still processing the events of the incident, and it all seems rather surreal. One minute I was on a food safety training course at work, the next I was in the North Sea on our lifeboat surrounded by numerous lifesaving assets.

‘The scale of the operation is one that I have never witnessed before and don’t know if I will again. My fellow lifeboat crew members were amazing and worked tirelessly. Each volunteer played to their strengths and the teamwork that they demonstrated was seamless. Our training kicked in immediately and thankfully we were able to rescue multiple casualties. I was so proud to be part of the crew and to work with the other agencies as well. It’s a day that I will never forget.’

Bridlington RNLI Station Mechanic, AJ Shepherd, said:

‘We launched our Shannon class lifeboat Antony Patrick Jones to assist with the call. It was a real team effort working with volunteers from our neighbouring stations and other partner agencies.

‘Our charity’s lifeboat crews regularly train to hone their lifesaving skills. Such training prepares us for a variety of situations like this incident.’

Craig Willard was coxswain on the Skegness all-weather lifeboat during the incident. He said:

‘Fortunately, it’s not often that we are asked to attend incidents of this scale and when the request came in from the Coastguard, the urgency of the situation was immediately obvious.

‘It’s a credit to the volunteer crew here at Skegness and our colleagues at other RNLI stations involved, that as an organisation we’re able to respond with speed and professionalism. Training and hard work from all involved was apparent by the way the situation was handled.

‘As a station, we are proud of all those who were involved, both search and rescue professionals and civilian workers who use the North Sea daily. They truly came together for their fellow sailors.’

Humber Volunteer crew member Stephen Gibbons said: 'Our training gives our crews the confidence and skillset to face a wide range of search and rescue scenarios. When we were tasked to the incident with our RNLI colleagues and commercial vessels, our training became second nature.’

‘The charity would not be able to operate or respond to such incidents without our wonderful and generous supporters.’

Cleethorpes RNLI volunteer, Sam Grice, said: 'We're incredibly proud of the collective effort and multi-agency collaboration that brings to life our shared commitment to saving lives at sea.'

Chief Coastguard Paddy O'Callaghan said: "Both the SOLONG and STENA IMMACULATE remain stable and salvage operations are ongoing.

“The locations of the vessels are unchanged - the STENA IMMACULATE remains at anchor and the SOLONG continues to be held in a safe location connected to a tug.

“There are now only small periodic pockets of fire on the SOLONG which are not causing undue concern.

"A retrieval operation is underway after plastic nurdles were sighted in waters just off The Wash and at disparate locations along the shore between Old Hunstanton and Wells-next-the-Sea. Coastguard Rescue Teams and other specialist counter pollution assets have been sent to assist with this response.

“Regular aerial surveillance flights continue to monitor both vessels and the retrieval operation."

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