Damaged tanker to be towed to Great Yarmouth after crash in North Sea
The Stena Immaculate was smashed into by the Solong container ship
A damaged tanker which was smashed into by a container ship in the North Sea will be towed to Great Yarmouth later this week.
The US tanker the Stena Immaculate had been anchored in the North Sea close to the East Yorkshire coast when the Solong collided into it on March 10th.
Since then, the boat has stayed anchored 12 miles off the British coast while cargo on the ship has been offloaded onto other ships.
Now, in a statement, chief coast guard Paddy O'Callaghan confirmed the first stage of removing the boat was complete.
"The transfer of cargo from the STENA IMMACULATE to the FURE VYL has been successfully completed," he said.
"Preparations are now ongoing to prepare the vessel to enter the Port of Great Yarmouth safely under tow, later this week."
He added: "HM Coastguard continues to support local authorities in their response to onshore pollution from the SOLONG as a result of the collision, including plastic nurdles, in both Norfolk and Lincolnshire."
The Solong tanker, which was a Portuguese-registered ship was towed to Aberdeen late last month.
In total, 36 people were rescued from the disaster - including Filipino worker Mark Pernia, who has not been found and has been presumed dead.
In the wake of the collision, plastic pellets - known as nurdles - have spilled into the sea, and have been seen washing up on the Norfolk coast.
Conservationists have confirmed the nurdles are not toxic but can harm local wildlife if they are eaten.
O'Callaghan also said: "The clean-up operation has now moved from a proactive to reactive response. HM Coastguard will continue to keep the overall situation under close review."
A preliminary report from investigations has found that there had been no "dedicated lookout" on either vessel before the incident.
The report said that the Stena Immaculate's second officer took over "anchor watch" just before midnight, while the Solong's captain returned to the bridge at 7am as the only one in charge.
Solong's captain, Vladimir Motin, 59, of St Petersburg, Russia, is due to stand trial in January 2026 charged with gross negligence manslaughter.