Accidents
Two freighters collide near Helgoland
The sea rescue cruiser “Hermann Marwede” coordinates the search on site (archive photo from March 2023). photo
© Jonas Walzberg/dpa
Two freighters collide in the German Bight in the North Sea. The search for missing people is in full swing. One of the ships sank.
Several people are missing after two cargo ships collided on Tuesday morning in the German Bight in the North Sea. The The accident occurred around 22 kilometers southwest of the island of Heligoland and 31 kilometers northeast of the island of Langeoog, as the accident command announced on Tuesday. The search for the castaways is ongoing, it was said. Accordingly, a person was rescued from the water and received medical care.
It was said that the accident command took over overall operational management. Accordingly, the cargo ships “Polesie” and “Verity” collided early Tuesday morning around 5:00 a.m. The accident command assumed that the “Verity” sank because of the collision. Numerous ships and a helicopter from the German Navy were used to search for the missing people. The “Polesie” was said to be buoyant. She has 22 people on board. It was initially unclear how many people were missing. A spokeswoman for the accident command was initially unable to provide any information.
The accident command had a sensor aircraft fly over the sea area in order to obtain more detailed information. A cruise ship traveling in the sea area is also supporting the search. People could receive medical care there, it was said. Doctors are on board. Additional medical personnel were to be flown to the scene of the accident by helicopter.