The crew of a US oil tanker struck by a container ship in the North Sea have been praised as "heroic" for triggering a crucial firefighting system before abandoning the vessel. A sailor from the Portuguese-registered Solong is missing presumed dead after the collision off the east coast of Yorkshire on Monday morning.

A Portuguese container ship has collided with a U.S.-flagged oil tanker while the tanker was anchored in the North Sea, with both ships catching on fire, officials said.