Ship collision in North Sea near Germany results in one death

One person has died and four others cannot be found after two cargo ships crashed near Germany’s North Sea coast.

Two out of the seven crew members on the British-flagged ship Verity were saved after it sank in an accident.

The rescue work is still going on and the German coastguard is sending divers to look for any signs of life in the sunken ship.

The Verity and the Bahamian Polesie crashed into each other at around 5:00 in the morning, local time.

The Verity ship was heading to the UK, carrying steel from a city called Bremen in Germany to a place called Immingham in Lincolnshire. At the same time, another ship named Polesie was traveling from Hamburg in Germany to La Coruña in Spain. Unfortunately, the two ships crashed into each other. No one on the Polesie ship got hurt.

The event took place near a group of islands in Germany called Heligoland, which is a part of the state of Schleswig-Holstein.

Two boats and a helicopter from the German maritime search and rescue service were used in the search.

Robby Renner, the leader of the German Central Command for Maritime Emergencies (CCME), said that it is possible that the people who are missing are still alive and inside the ship.

“He said there is a small possibility that they are stuck in the ship’s hull. ”

Michael Ippich, who runs the German Sea Rescue Society, mentioned that the water was about 12 degrees Celsius. He also stated that if the crew members who are missing fell into the water, they could potentially survive for roughly 20 hours, provided that they are healthy and have appropriate gear.

The group’s spokesperson said they will keep looking for survivors until there is even a slight possibility of finding them.
A P&O cruise ship called the Iona also helped with the search.

The people on board the ship were told around 05:30 in the morning that the ship was assisting in searching for something. The company told ITV that the Iona had done what it was supposed to do according to the laws and values of the world.

The Iona ship left Southampton on Saturday to go to Hamburg, Rotterdam, and Bruges. It has now been allowed to continue its trip.

In a message on X, previously called Twitter, German Transport Minister Volker Wissing expressed gratitude towards the rescue teams and assured that every possible attempt is being made to find and save the people who are currently missing.

It is not known why the crash happened yet.