German state broadcaster Deutsche Welle, quoting Germany’s Central Command for Maritime Emergencies, reports that the impact between the two vessels occurred approximately 22 kilometers southwest of Heligoland Island and 31 kilometers northeast of Langeoog Island.
🚨 #Seenotretter im Einsatz: Kollision in der Deutschen Bucht, mehrere Menschen vermisst. Zwei Frachtschiffe sind am frühen Morgen zusammengestoßen. Seenotrettungskreuzer HERMANN MARWEDE der #DGzRS koordiniert zahlreiche Einheiten zur Suche und Rettung. ➡️ https://t.co/dJIQNELAjZ pic.twitter.com/G0yf9T5PfG
— Die Seenotretter – DGzRS (@Seenotretter) October 24, 2023
According to DGzRS, Germany’s maritime rescue service, one crew member has been rescued and is receiving medical attention. It is also believed that one of the two vessels, the Verity, a 22-year-old General Cargo Ship, has sunk.
DGzRS adds that the German Police and Navy, as well as a British cruise ship that was in the area, the Iona, are involved in the rescue and search operation.
Doctors on board the cruise ship have been taken to the scene of the accident, while the waters are being surveyed above by rescue workers in helicopters and aircraft. Rescue boats have of course also been sent to the area too.
According to DGzRS, the Verity left Bremen for Great Britain at around 7pm yesterday evening, while the Polesie was on the route from Hamburg to La Coruña. After 3am the Verity stopped transmitting radio signals.
The Polesie is known to have had 22 persons onboard. German tabloid BILD reports that 6 people are missing.
It is still unclear how the collision between the two vessels occurred.
Update from DGzRS at 12pm local time:
So far, two people have been rescued from the sunken Verity. One is receiving hospital treatment and the other is on the way to hospital. Another man has also been recovered but sadly, he was found dead.
There were a total of seven people on board the Verity. Four crew members are still missing and the search for those persons is ongoing. it is understood that the 22 people on board the Polesie are unharmed.
The airspace over the accident site has been closed within a radius of ten nautical miles in order not to hinder the search operation.
The Polesie. Photo: Otávio Nogueira / Flickr / CC BY 2.0 DEED
Featured image photo: Darren B Hillman / Flickr / CC BY-ND 2.0 DEED
