The collision took place about 13 miles (20km) off the East Yorkshire coast, near Hull and Grimsby, in a busy shipping area. The Stena Immaculate was anchored and drifting at a speed of 0.1 knots at 09:48 GMT on Monday, according to ship tracking site MarineTraffic.

An oil tanker carrying jet fuel was recently hit by a cargo ship while at anchor 13 miles (21km) off the east coast of England. This set off a series of large explosions and a huge plume of black smoke,

A port official said he was told the North Sea collision produced "a massive fireball" and the cargo ship's owner said one crew member was missing.