A tanker carrying jet fuel has collided with a container ship, causing fuel to briefly spill into the North Sea.
The Cypriot vessel York Ranger tore a 20ft hole in the hull of the Greek tanker Mindoro around 20 miles off the Dutch coast at Scheveningen.
Some highly inflammable kerosene leaked from a hole above the water line before the crew managed to pump the remaining fuel into an undamaged part of the ship.
Peter van Oorschot, a spokesman for the Dutch Coast Guard, confirmed that no one was hurt in the collision.
Mr Oorschot said the jet fuel quickly vaporises and posed no public health risk, and it is not expected to reach the Dutch coast.
He could not say how much jet fuel the 25-man tanker was carrying but added that the situation was under control.
Offshore winds are blowing the slick away from the coast.
The container ship has a crew of 12 and has asked permission to sail on to Rotterdam, its original destination after leaving St Petersburg.
The Arka oil dispersion ship and rescue vessels are on their way to the site.
Heading for port: The damaged cargo ship York Ranger passes through River Maass watergate on its way to the harbour in Rotterdam, its original destination
Breach: The Mindoro loses jet fuel off the coast of Amsterdam
Hull damage: The Cypriot container ship ripped a 20ft hole in the Mindoro (circled)
Last week, a tanker filled with gasoline collided with a huge cargo vessel in the English Channel and had to be towed to safety.
All 13 crew of the 6,970-tonne YM Uranus were rescued by helicopter after the Maltese-flagged vessel was in collision with the 179,000-ton Hanjin Rizhao about 60 miles west of the Brittany coast in north-west France.
No one was hurt in the incident and none of the Uranus cargo - a specialist gasoline product called heavy pygas - is thought to have escaped.