Lifeboats and a coastguard helicopter have been deployed to the scene, and the ships appear to be a US-flagged tanker called the Stena Immaculate and a Portuguese-flagged container ship called the Solong.
The site of the collision is off the UK coast in the North Sea, just to the east of Hull.
A coastguard spokesperson said: “HM Coastguard is currently co-ordinating the emergency response to reports of a collision between a tanker and cargo vessel off the coast of East Yorkshire. The alarm was raised at 9.48am.
“A Coastguard Rescue Helicopter from Humberside was called, alongside lifeboats from Skegness, Bridlington, Maplethorpe and Cleethorpes, an HM Coastguard fixed wing aircraft, and nearby vessels with fire-fighting capability.
“The incident remains ongoing.”
The BBC has reported that the oil tanker appeared to be stationary and at anchor according to data from the tracking website MarineTraffic, and that the Solong appeared to collide with the vessel.
Footage sent to the BBC shows that the oil tanker is on fire (BBC)
The Stena Immaculate had set off from Agioi Theodoroi in Greece and had been heading for the port of Killingholme in the UK.
Meanwhile, the Solong departed from Grangemouth in Scotland and had been journeying towards the Dutch port of Rotterdam before it collided with the anchored oil tanker.
The BBC has also been sent footage which shows the oil tanker on fire, and says that the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) has said in a statement that a number of people involved in the incident have abandoned ship.
A number of RNLI crews are supporting rescue efforts focused on the stricken ships which appear to be billowing sizeable plumes of smoke into the air.
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The Stena Immaculate, pictured here in 2019, is the oil tanker involved in the collision off the UK coast near Hull (By kees torn – STENA IMMACULATE, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=89961841)
The Metro reports that a mayday call concerning the collision identified the Stena Immaculate as carrying jet fuel which had ignited in the water.
The call went out from a member of the Humber Coastguard to give the coordinates of the collision and requested that any ships in the area which could help in the rescue operation or had ‘firefighting equipment’ to get in contact.
They said: “Solong has collided with Tanker Stena Immaculate in the outer anchorage.
“Both vessels are abandoning. Vessels who have firefighting equipment or who can assist with search and rescue contact Humber Coastguard.
“Vessel Stena Immaculate is carrying Jet A 1 fuel which is on fire and in the water.”
Martyn Boyers, chief executive of the Port of Grimsby East, has said that at present a total of 32 casualties had been brought ashore by rescue efforts on various vessels, their conditions are not currently known.
