UK Says with Fires Out, Focus is on Recovery and Pollution Retrieval
HM Coastguard reports that the response to the allision between the containership Solong and the tanker Stena Immaculate is being downgraded as it moves into the recovery phase. No longer classified as a “major incident,” the focus is on salvage while concern continues to rise about the pollution being discovered along the shoreline.
After more than a week, HM Coastguard reports the fires on board the Solong have been extinguished. Salvors are now accessing all parts of the vessel, which remains held in position on a tow line. Salvage teams had already been able to inspect the Stena Immaculate, which remains at anchor.
"Aerial surveillance flights continue to monitor both vessels and the retrieval operation,” said Chief Coastguard Paddy O'Callaghan. The organization is urging individuals to report sightings of debris while saying, “HM Coastguard will however continue to support the salvage and multiagency retrieval operations while keeping the overall situation under review.”
Wildlife organizations however are raising concerns saying it is a race against time to stop the spreading pollution from the incident. The first sighting of what has now been determined to be nurdles (plastic pellets) was reported on Sunday, March 16, and now according to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and others they have been found “washing up along miles and miles of the Norfolk coast, including on our nature reserve.”
Saying it is “deeply concerned,” the charity reports that the plastic pollution is currently mostly on the tidelines, but it fears it will spread inland. It highlights the nurdles, pellets the size of lentils, pose a significant risk to seabirds, which can mistake them for food. Further, over time they break down into microplastics.
Among the debris are large clumps of charred nurdles (RSPB photo)
It reports that many of the pellets are loose but some were clumped together in larger debris as a result of the fires. These larger masses are washing ashore with the teams reporting they are charred and smelling of kerosene.
“We are also concerned about where more plastic debris may make landfall if it is not collected at sea,” said a spokesperson for RSPB. “Current modelling predicts it may end up at the RSPB nature reserve at Freiston Shore on the western side of The Wash, and at Holbeach. We are monitoring the situation closely and working with the authorities to help track the location of plastic debris.”
The owners of the vessel, Ernst Russ, said through a spokesperson that while there were nurdles aboard the Solong it does not believe any containers were lost overboard. It suggested that during the intense fires, some of the packaging might have opened and spilled some of its contents. It says it is “working proactively to mitigate any long-term impact on the marine environment” while liaising with the coastguard.
Plastic Pollution Washes Ashore as UK Continues Planning Vessel Salvage
The first signs of pollution were reported by HM Coastguard in the water and washing ashore on Sunday, March 16, following the containership Solong hitting the anchored tanker Stena Immaculate. The Coastguard is saying the pollution likely entered the water at the point of collision on March 10 and that a retrieval operation has begun in the developing situation.
The RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) identified the pollution reporting on Sunday that a sheen had been spotted on the water. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said an aerial survey confirmed the pollution which has now been identified as plastic nurdles (small plastic pellets). Today, the Coastguard is reporting observers have found the first clumps of burnt pellets washing ashore at disparate locations along the shore between Old Hunstanton and Wells-next-the-Sea.
Nurdles are small pellets of plastic resin used in plastic production. They are sized between 1 and 5 mm and weigh less than a gram. The concern is that they pose a risk to wildlife and are especially challenging to clean up. Sri Lanka dealt with a large-scale clean-up effort in 2021 when the containership X-Press Pearl burnt and sank off Colombo and a large quantity of nurdles washed ashore. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) moved in 2023 for new recommendations on the transport of nurdles because of the pollution risks while the EU introduced new rules in 2024.
HM Coastguard released pictures of the burnt clumps on the beach. The said retrieval has started today.
News of the first pollution came after U.S. shipping company Crowley, which operated Stena Immaculate under charter for the U.S. government, reported salvage teams had found the damage was contained on the vessel. SMIT Salvage is handling the job and its teams reported that only one cargo tank and one ballast tank were breached when the vessel was hit.
Crowley reports there was a total of 220,000 barrels of Jet-A1 fuel aboard. They now believe that 17,515 barrels were lost in the fire or leaked after the vessel was hit. The remaining cargo and the vessel’s bunkers are reported to be secure.
The company is crediting the crew of the Stena Immaculate with heroic actions as the fires were beginning. It said the crew had the presence of mind to activate fire monitors to provide boundary cooling water to the adjacent tanks.
The companies have warned that the salvage operation will be complex and that it will require time. Plans are being developed for both vessels and being reviewed with the MCA.
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