Coastguard rescue helicopter and fixed wing aircraft scrambled alongside lifeboats and nearby vessels with fire-fighting capability

• Full story: UK coastguard scrambled after ship collision

It is highly unusual for large vessels to apparently collide in daylight, but visibility may have been an issue, according to an earlier report from the Met Office. It had earlier reported “areas of fog and low cloud lifting as winds increase through the morning” in the region, predicting “warm, if rather hazy sunny spells.”

Here is a video clip which appears to show the aftermath of the collision between the Stena Immaculate and the Solong off the coast of East Yorkshire. Marine tracking appears to show that the Solong, en route to Rotterdam, struck the Stena Immaculate, which was at anchor. It is likely that between them the two vessels had about 40 members of crew.