One Dead and Four Missing After Cargo Ships Collide in North Sea

At least one person has died and four others are missing from a UK-flagged inland cargo ship after a collision with another ship in the North Sea off Germany on Tuesday.

The collision occurred in ther German Bight, approximately 12 nautical miles southwest of the island of Helgoland. The cargo ships involved were M/V Verity, sailing under the UK flag, and the M/V Polsie, a bulk carrier registered in the Bahamas. The Verity, with seven people on board, has sunk as result of the collision.

One person from the Verity has been recovered deceased, while two others have been rescued and taken to the hospital. Efforts are ongoing to locate the remaining four missing persons.

The Polesie, which had 22 people on board, remains afloat and all individuals on board are reported to be uninjured.

The search operation is being coordinated by Germany’s Central Command for Maritime Emergencies, known as “Havariekommando,” which has deployed multiple air and sea assets to assist.

An AIS animation shows the collision between the two vessels just before 3 a.m. UTC Thursday morning.

The accident site has a restricted airspace within a radius of 10 nautical miles to facilitate the search operation.

The Verity, with a length of 91 meters and a width of 14 meters, was en route from Bremen to Immingham, England. The Polesie, measuring 190 meters in length and 29 meters in width, was traveling from Hamburg to La Coruña in Spain.

Investigations and rescue efforts are ongoing to determine the cause of the collision and locate the missing individuals.

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