North Sea Vessel Collision

James Wild Excerpts

Tuesday 11th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mike Kane]

The hon. Member should brace himself for what I am about to say: he acted with honour this weekend, relating to my circumstances, with his former party member, and I am grateful to him. He is exactly right. Our emergency services are second to none, as are our volunteers who help His Majesty’s Coastguard and the RNLI. These men and women risked their lives braving the seas, the winds, the temperature and the fog, to go and do what they could at the scene yesterday. I have nothing but the highest praise for them.

[James Wild (North West Norfolk) (Con)]

My constituency has the Norfolk coast area of outstanding natural beauty and other vital habitats, including the Wash, as well as a fishing fleet. Given the location of the collision, there is local concern about the potential impact. When will a risk assessment be done on the potential risk of pollution down the east coast to Norfolk? What action is being taken to contain it? Will the Minister commit to keeping the public informed?

[Mike Kane]

MCA assets are being deployed currently to assess and monitor any potential environmental impacts of this accident. The hon. Gentleman is right that the area is richly biodiverse. The priority remains extinguishing the fire on the Solong, so that we can properly evaluate the situation. Once we get that done, we will use every resource possible to ascertain the extent of the pollution, and to clear it up.