A search is underway after a British-flagged cargo ship sank in the North Sea following a collision with a bulk carrier with at least six people thought missing.
TOPSHOT – (COMBO) This combination of pictures created on October 24, 2023 shows grabs taken on October 24, 2023 from undated videos showing the Verity cargo ship (top) and the Polesie cargo ship in Hamburg, northern Germany. (Photo by STRINGER/NEWS5/AFP via Getty Images)
Update 25/10/23: At least one known to be dead after sinking
One person has died and four other people are still officially missing after bulk carrier Polesie struck and sunk a smaller general cargo in the North Sea on Friday.
Despite the time elapsed since the loss of the ship, rescue efforts continue as a slender chance remains that the crew could still be trapped inside a watertight compartment on the Verity on the ocean floor.
The BBC reports the remarks of Robby Renner of the German Central Command for Maritime Emergencies (CCME), who said: “There may be a chance – and I stress it is only a chance – that they are trapped in the ship’s hull”.
TOPSHOT – The cargo ship “Polesie” is guided into the harbour of Cuxhaven, northern Germany, on early October 25, 2023, after it collided with another cargo ship, the “Verity”, in the North Sea near the Heloland island, on October 24, 2023. German rescue teams called off a search October 25, 2023 for four sailors missing after the Polesie sank after a collision between two vessels in the North Sea. One person has already been declared dead and two people were rescued after the accident, which happened early October 24, 2023 about 22 kilometres (13 miles) southwest of the island of Helgoland. (Photo by René Schröder / NEWS5 / AFP) (Photo by RENE SCHRODER/NEWS5/AFP via Getty Images)
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The British general cargo ship Verity is reported to have been lost off the coast of Helgoland, an island off Germany and Denmark in the North Sea, following a collision with the Bahamas-flagged Polesie. According to the German newspaper Bild, citing sources in the national accident command reports six people are presently thought missing.
One person has been pulled from the water, but rescue efforts are being hampered by the weather conditions locally, which is experiencing high wind and waves.
Publicly available data from the Verity’s Automatic Information System, a legally mandated safety and navigation device fitted to all large seagoing ships, the vessel last was able to report its position around 0300 local time. According to its filed plan, it was eight hours out of the port of Bremen in Germany and headed to the British port of Immingham.
It is said to have collided with the bulk carrier Polesie, a considerably larger ship, overnight. The Polesie is still afloat and, again according to AIS data, has remained in the area and may be assisting with the search.
Other ships that have come to the aid of the lost Verity include two coastguard vessels and an ocean liner, which are being assisted by a helicopter.
The Verity was previously involved in a maritime incident in 2006 when its engine failed off the south British coast in rough weather. Two RNLI lifeboats and a Dutch warship were engaged in a 34-hour fight to save the ship — which was carrying 3,000 tons of scrap metal — by towing it away from the coast.
This story is developing and more follows.