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An oil tanker is on fire in the North Sea after colliding with a cargo ship off the coast of East Yorkshire.
Dramatic footage has shown smoke billowing from the water, after the alarm was raised at just after 9:45am off the coast of the Humber Estuary, near Hull.
The tanker involved is believed to be the US-flagged MV Stena Immaculate, which collided with the Portugal-registered ship MV Solong.
The American tanker was at anchor, according to ship tracking tool Vesselfinder.
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A Coastguard rescue operation has been launched as helicopters, lifeboats and firefighters rushed to the scene.
An HM 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 RNLI reportedly sent four lifeboats to the scene at 10:20am and said there had been reports of “a number of people had abandoned the vessels”.
“There were reports that a number of people had abandoned the vessels following a collision and there were fires on both ships,” the group told SkyNews.
It added that by 11.40am, one lifeboat was stood down whilst the other three continued to “support search and rescue efforts”.
According to ship tracking site Marinetraffic, the Stena Immaculate had anchored outside Hull after it had travelled from the port of Agioi Theodoroi in Greece.
The cargo ship Solong had been sailing from the port of Grangemouth in Scotland to Rotterdam in the Netherlands when it appeared to collide with the tanker at around 9:48am.
More follows…