A cargo ship that smashed into a US military chartered oil tanker off the northeast coast of England on Monday was carrying sodium cyanide, according to the maritime intelligence company and shipping journal Lloyd’s List.

According to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), sodium cyanide is a white crystal-like almond-coloured solid that is typically used industrially for metal cleaning

An oil tanker carrying jet fuel and a cargo ship packed with highly toxic chemicals collided in the North Sea off the coast of East Yorkshire on March 10. A crew member remains missing, with one person hospitalised and 36 other mariners from across both ships' crews now "safe and accounted for", according to a local MP.