A cargo ship struck a tanker carrying jet fuel on Monday in the North Sea, sparking a massive fire off England and leaving 32 people injured, the tanker's operator and authorities said.
A major rescue operation was being coordinated by the UK Coastguard as images showed a huge plume of thick, black smoke and flames rising from the scene about 10 miles (16 kilometres) off the coast.
The Stena Immaculate was "anchored off the North Sea coast near Hull ... (and) was struck by the container ship Solong," the Stena's US-based operators Crowley said in a statement.
The impact of the collision "ruptured" the cargo tank "containing A1-jet fuel" triggering a fire, with fuel "reported released".
The 32 injured had been brought ashore for treatment in three vessels, the Grimsby port director Martyn Boyers told AFP, adding "ambulances were queueing on the quay" in the northeastern English fishing port.
All of the crew on board the tanker owned by Swedish shipowner Stena Bulk were confirmed to be alive, Lena Alvling, a spokesperson for the firm told AFP.
There were reports of "fires on both ships" that UK lifeboat services were responding to, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) confirmed to AFP.
A spokesman said the Coastguard was carrying out an assessment of the likely counter pollution response required, while a government body probing marine accidents deployed a team to Grimsby.
"Our team of inspectors and support staff are gathering evidence and undertaking a preliminary assessment of the accident to determine our next steps," a Marine Accident Investigation Branch spokesperson said.
According to environmental campaign group Greenpeace, it was "too early to assess the extent of any environmental damage".
"In the case of an oil spill or any loss of hazardous cargo from the container ship involved, the speed of the response will also be crucial in limiting any impact," a Greenpeace spokesperson said.
All vessel movements were "suspended" in the Humber estuary which flows into the North Sea, according to the Associated British Ports (ABP).
The ABP, which operates in the Ports of Hull and Immingham in the region, added it was "assisting" the Coastguard.
The International Maritime Organization told AFP "the current focus is on the firefighting and search and rescue operation".
UK Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said she was "concerned to hear" about the collision and thanked all the emergency services which rushed to the scene.
The alarm about the crash near the port city of Hull in East Yorkshire was raised at 0948 GMT.
A Coastguard helicopter, a plane, lifeboats from four towns and other nearby vessels were part of the large rescue operation, the Coastguard said.
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