Rescue operation under way after ships collide in North Sea

[undeterred]

Source: CNN

(CNN) -- Rescue operations were under way in the North Sea after a container vessel collided Wednesday night with a car carrier, which had 24 people aboard when it started sinking, a spokesman for the Netherlands Coast Guard said Thursday.

The carrier Baltic Ace began sinking immediately after it collided with the container vessel at 7:15 p.m. (1:15 p.m. ET), 60 kilometers (32 miles) west of Rotterdam, said Coast Guard P.R. Manager Peter Verburg.

Thirteen crew members were rescued. Four were taken to Rotterdam Hospital, seven to the Koksijde Air Base near Ostend, Belgium, and two were still aboard another vessel, he said. Those rescued were suffering from hypothermia and minor injuries, he said.

The nationality of the crew was not immediately known. Various fishing boats, merchant vessels and at least three helicopters were searching for more survivors.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/05/world/europe/netherlands-ship-collision/

[monmouth3]

1. This may sound stupid but the North Sea is quite large. How in hell could these two vessels run

into each other?

[elleng]

2. Texting???

(Sorry, accident not funny, but couldn't resist.)

[Posteritatis]

3. Oceans are large; shipping lanes are narrow.

Subtract some visibility from the equation, some weather to shift vessels off course a tiny bit, and stuff like that happens.

[undeterred]

4. Maybe it was dark and nobody was paying attention?

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. It happended in one of the busiest seaways in the world

Just to the south west are the Straits of Dover:

There is extreme necessity for an official Coastguard vessel in the Dover Straits.

The Straits are the busiest seaway in the world. It is often quoted that 500 ships pass through the Straits each day.

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmtran/948/948vw18.htm

Rotterdam is the busiest port in Europe:

The Port of Rotterdam is the largest port in Europe, located in the city of Rotterdam, South Holland, the Netherlands. From 1962 until 1986 it was the world's busiest port, now overtaken by Asian ports like Singapore and Shanghai.

http://www.portarea.com/en/port/choose-port-location/ports-in-netherlands/port-of-rotterdam.html

The area will contain ships going from the Baltic, German and Dutch ports to the south and west (and vice versa), British east coast ports going south and west (and vice versa), and traffic across the North Sea.

[riverwalker]

5. 4 dead seven missing

The 148-metre (485-foot) Baltic Ace was sailing under a Bahamas flag and carrying cars from Zeebrugge in Belgium to Kotka in Finland.

Its 24 crew abandoned ship as it sank quickly after colliding with the Cyprus-registered container ship, the Corvus J, sailing from Grangemouth in Scotland to the Belgian port of Antwerp.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20616997