Jet fuel in the North Sea ‘not going to persist’ after collision

On March 10, a cargo ship en route to the port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands crashed into a US military-chartered oil tanker anchored in the North Sea off the British coast. The Stena Immaculate was carrying roughly 50 million L of jet fuel. The force of the collision resulted in jet fuel being released and “multiple explosions onboard,” according to a statement by the logistics firm Crowley, which manages the tanker. The cargo ship Solong also caught fire, and both crews had to abandon ship. One crew member died. The volume of jet fuel released is still unclear, although a March 11 update by Crowley says that “initial review shows impacts have been limited due to exposure to the fire and evaporation of the Jet A1 fuel.” In an email to C&EN, Mark A. Sephton , professor of organic geochemistry at Imperial College London, says that jet fuel, with