18 Crew Members Rescued after Ships Collide off Dutch Coast in Storm

The Dutch coastguard rescued 18 crew members from a ship that collided with another vessel in the North Sea on Monday during a storm off the coast of the Netherlands.

The vessel, the Maltese registered Julietta D. cargo ship, bound for Amsterdam from Germany, collided with an oil and chemicals tanker, the coastguard said in a statement.

After an hour-long rescue operation with helicopters, the coastguard reported that all 18 crew members were taken off the vessel.

The Julietta D. is rudderless and taking in water. The situation on the oil tanker is stable, it added.

Rescue efforts were made more challenging by storm Corrie, which is causing wind gusts of up to 120 kph (75 mph) in the North Sea.

(Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg; Editing by Edmund Blair and Alison Williams)