Freighter collision
Hardly any hope left for missing sailors
The hull of the cargo ship “Polesie”. photo
© Sina Schuldt/dpa
Four sailors are still missing in the North Sea after the freighter collision. A remote-controlled diving robot also found no sign of life. Do the castaways still have a chance?
A remote-controlled diving robot that was lowered to the wreck of the sunken coaster “Verity” on Wednesday also found no sign of life. Meanwhile, the Federal Bureau of Maritime Casualty Investigation (BSU) in Hamburg began investigating the cause of the accident.
After the freighter collided on Tuesday morning, rescue workers were able to rescue two sailors from the water. One sailor was recovered dead. Four people from the seven-person crew of the “Verity” are still missing. The other much larger freighter, the “Polesie”, reached Cuxhaven under its own power that night. The 22 crew members are said to be uninjured.
Diving robot cannot find people in wreck
The accident command considered that the missing sailors could be trapped in the wreck of the sunken “Verity”, which was about 30 meters deep. The rescue workers tried again on Wednesday to find any signs of life for the missing people using a diving robot. But no people could have been recognized, said a spokesman for the accident command. The visibility was not bad; the device was able to film into the bridge of the “Verity”. However, the evaluation of the data from the underwater vehicle is still ongoing.
According to the accident command, the weather conditions had deteriorated somewhat during the night. With rain showers and wind force six, the waves were between two and three meters high, a spokesman said. The North Sea has a water temperature of around twelve degrees at the site of the accident.
Sea rescuers had previously assumed that, based on experience, people could survive in the water at such temperatures for up to 20 hours – this period expired at night. The surface search was not expected to resume on Wednesday.
The cause of the accident remains unclear
The accident involving the freighters “Verity” and “Polesie” occurred around 22 kilometers southwest of the offshore island of Heligoland and 31 kilometers northeast of the East Frisian island of Langeoog. How this came about is still unclear. The accident site is in one of the busiest sea areas in the world. According to the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH), two internationally established shipping routes run in an east-west direction in the German Bight.
To investigate the cause, German experts are working with the investigative authorities of the flag states of the two freighters, the Bahamas and Great Britain. “Votes will take place shortly as to who will do what,” said the head of the BSU, Ulf Kaspera. The investigations have already begun. Among other things, the first traffic data was secured.
The freighter crew members should also be questioned quickly. The investigation will be led by the responsible maritime accident investigation authority in Great Britain, the Marine Accident Investigation Branch.