Sailors Safe After Ship Collision

Sailors were rescued off the English Channel in the United Kingdom after a chemical tanker collided with another vessel at dawn, the Manila Standard Today reported. 22 crewmembers were rescued by a British coastguard boat and a Royal Air Force (RAF) helicopter and then taken to St. Margaret’s Lodge, a hospital on the British island of Guernsey, according to reports by a RAF officer and Ambassador to London Edgardo Espiritu. The tanker Ece, which was carrying 10,000 tons of phosphoric acid, collided with a Maltese-registered cargo ship loaded with 26,000 tons of phosphorus. Divers were scheduled to inspect the hull of the chemical tanker, which was badly damaged, to assess pollution risks. The tanker was listing badly to one side following the early-morning accident, but any risk of large-scale ocean pollution has so far been ruled out. Rescue teams were waiting for the ship to fully stabilize before deciding whether to tow it to shore. Choppy seas, with waves of up to 2.5 m and winds of up to 40 kph, were reported at the time of the accident some 90 km west of Cherbourg, but did not hamper the rescue effort.

(Source: Manila Standard Today)