‘Three bodies recovered’ after British cargo sunk near German coast
German authorities reported that a British cargo had sunk following a collision with another ship. There are currently “several missing” people after the two boats collided.
The sunken ship, the Verity, is a British-flagged, general cargo built in 2001. It was en route from Bremen in Germany to Immingham, on the Humber estuary in north-east England when it collided with the larger freighter Polesie at 5 am.
The Polesie — containing 22 passengers — is twice the size of the Verity and remained afloat after the impact. The ship was sailing in the North Sea on its way to Coruna in Spain from Hamburg.
Earlier reports from the emergency command said that “one person was rescued and was given medical treatment”, with rescuers searching for more missing people.
One of the passengers, Garry Corbin, wrote on Facebook that there have been “three bodies recovered”. He added: “Two freighters have collided close by us. Iona has picked up 3 bodies. There are helicopters and rescue ships by us. We are involved in the search and rescue operation. Not moving at [the] moment.”
Emergency cruise ships Hermann Marwede and the Bernhard Gruben are leading the rescue mission in the area, with more emergency response ships and commercial vessels on their way to join the search party.
According to a spokesperson from P&O Cruises Iona, “P&O Cruises Iona is currently involved in a search and rescue operation off the coast of Germany”.
“The incident is ongoing and Iona’s cooperation complies with international maritime law as well as being consistent with the company’s moral and legal obligations.
“Iona is scheduled to be at sea today and this event should have no impact upon tomorrow’s scheduled call to Rotterdam or the onward itinerary,” the spokesperson said.
Another spokesperson told The Mirror: “The incident is ongoing and Iona’s cooperation complies with international maritime law as well as being consistent with the company’s moral and legal obligations.”
Additionally, a spokesman for Germany’s Central Command for Maritime Emergencies believes it is too early to know if there was any oil spill. However, he told the German newspaper Bild that the priority was rescuing the missing people from the British cargo.