North Sea: Diver mission on sunken freighter unsuccessful

The collision of two freighters on the North Sea off Heligoland triggered a dramatic search operation and cost at least one sailor his life. Rescue workers were able to rescue two sailors from the 12-degree North Sea after one of the freighters sank on Tuesday morning as a result of the collision, as the accident command in Cuxhaven announced. In strong winds, waves up to three meters high and poor visibility, emergency services with several ships searched for the shipwrecked people. “We are currently doing everything humanly possible to save more lives,” said Robby Renner, head of the accident command.

In complete darkness around 5 a.m. on Tuesday morning, the bulk carrier “Polesie” and the coaster “Verity” collided in the German Bight. Photos from the scene of the accident showed how beams of light from the searchlights of the cruise ship “Iona”, which happened to be traveling nearby, scanned the dark water surface at the scene of the accident shortly after the accident early in the morning.

At around 5:20 a.m. the signal from the “Verity” was lost, said Michael Ippich from the German Society for the Rescue of Shipwrecked People (DGzRS). “One had to assume that the ship sank at that point.” A good hour later, the first sea rescue cruiser from Heligoland was at the scene of the accident. Shortly afterwards the first pieces of wreckage were found.

Two sailors from the “Verity” rescued

Two Sailors were rescued from the water and taken to clinics. Four sailors from the seven-person crew of the “Verity” were missing – any help came too late for one crew member.

The accident 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.

According to the accident command, the 91 meter long “Verity”, which was flying the British flag, was loaded with so-called steel coils, i.e. rolls made of large sheets of metal. The ship from the British-Dutch shipping company Faversham Ships was on its way from Bremen to Immingham, a port on the English North Sea coast. It also had around 1300 cubic meters of diesel fuel on board. That’s why a multi-purpose ship was deployed to the scene of the accident in order to be able to collect any fuel that might have leaked from the water.

The other freighter, the larger “Polesie” with a length of 190 meters, was flying the Bahamas flag on its way from Hamburg to La Coruña in Spain. 22 sailors were on board the freighter, which belongs to the Polish shipping company Polsteam Group. According to rescue workers, these sailors are on their ship uninjured.

Divers search for missing people in wreckage

The accident command considered that the missing people could be trapped in the wreckage of the sunken freighter “Verity”. Divers therefore tried to find possible signs of life from the crew on the wreck at a depth of around 30 meters in the afternoon – but without success. “The divers were unable to gain any information,” the authority said in the evening.

According to the rescuers, there was only a short window of time available for the action, namely the so-called backwater between high and low tide, when the current is weaker. But the conditions underwater were difficult. The visibility depth on the wreck is just one to two meters. The emergency command announced that a strong current had made further attempts initially impossible. It was unclear whether and when there might be further dives.

As long as there is a chance of finding survivors, the rescue workers do not want to stop the search. However, wind, waves and cold made the rescue work more difficult. “It is certainly complex for the units on site because the conditions are challenging,” said DGzRS spokesman Christian Stipeldey. The sky and the lake would be almost the same color in the autumn weather. It would then be difficult to recognize missing people at sea.

But no one knows how the missing sailors were equipped, the spokesman said. People are repeatedly found alive in cold water, even after a long time. According to the sea rescuers, based on experience, people could survive for up to 20 hours in water temperatures of around twelve degrees – but it also depends on the condition and clothing, such as a life jacket, of the injured person.

Ships and helicopters are used to search

Six DGzRS sea rescue cruisers searched for the missing people at the scene of the accident. The emergency tug “Nordic” and other government vessels were also in use. The German Navy took part with a SAR rescue helicopter. The cruise ship “Iona”, owned by the shipping company P&O Cruises, was also asked to stay at the scene of the accident. Shipwrecked people could receive medical care on board, it said.

Images from the exploration ship “Atair” from the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency showed that the wreck had not broken apart. Renner announced that he would use the remaining daylight for the search. Any work that could occur in the dark should continue after dark.

Busy shipping routes in the North Sea

The collision between the two freighters occurred in one of the busiest sea areas in the world – two internationally established shipping routes run in an east-west direction in the German Bight, as a spokeswoman for the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) said. These are the Terschelling-German Bight traffic separation area (VTG) off the East Frisian Islands and the German Bight Western Approach traffic separation area further north. Ship traffic runs across the two traffic separation areas to the German river basins Ems, Jade/Weser and Elbe as well as to the offshore wind farms in the German North Sea.

The accident command in Cuxhaven, which took over overall operational management, had a sensor aircraft fly over the sea area in order to obtain more detailed information. It is the authority responsible for maritime emergency preparedness and accident management on the North and Baltic Seas in Germany.

The freighter collision brought back memories of one of the largest shipping accidents in German history – almost 25 years ago to the day. On October 25, 1998, the Italian freighter “Pallas” was sailing on the North Sea when the cargo of wood caught fire off the Danish North Sea coast. The ship drifted into German waters without a driver and ran aground off the island of Amrum. There was a major oil spill, as a result of which many birds died.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated.

tkr / Lennart Stock, Thomas Strünkelnberg and Mirjam Uhrich
DPA