One person has died and four others are missing from the crew of a cargo ship that sank after colliding with another vessel in the North Sea, according to German authorities.
Two other crew members were rescued after the collision early on Tuesday, German Sea Rescue Society (DGzRS) spokesperson Christian Stipeldey said.
The accident happened about 22km (13 miles) southwest of the island of Helgoland and 31km (19 miles) northeast of the island of Langeoog, the German Central Command for Maritime Emergencies (CCME) said in a statement.
Several ships are currently involved in a rescue operation in the area, the agency said.
“The emergency services are doing everything they can to rescue the missing people,” German Transport Minister Volker Wissing said in a statement.
“My thoughts are with the crew members, their relatives and the rescue teams who have been in action since early this morning.”
The ship, Verity, was sailing under a British flag and was on its way from Bremen in Germany to the British town of Immingham.
The other ship, Polesie, was under a Bahamas flag and travelling from Germany’s Hamburg to La Coruna in Spain.
Source: Aljazeera.com
