North Sea Ship Collision: Four People Killed

Four crew members have died and another seven are still missing after a cargo ship collided with another vessel and sank off the Dutch coast.

The 485ft (148m) Baltic Ace collided with the 440ft (134m) container ship Corvus J near busy shipping lanes some 40 miles off the coast of the southern Netherlands.

Baltic Ace, which was heading from the Belgian port of Zeebrugge to Kotka in Finland, sank shortly after the collision.

Corvus J was on its way from Grangemouth in Scotland to Antwerp, Belgium, and was also damaged but assisted in the search for the missing crew of the sunken ship immediately afterwards.

"We can confirm that four bodies have been found, along with 13 people rescued alive," said coastguard spokesman Marcel Oldenburger.

A major air and sea rescue operation involving several helicopters, planes and two navy patrol ships has resumed.

The collision occurred in one of the North Sea's busiest shipping lanes

"Given the water temperature and the amount of time that's passed, we don't have any hope for more survivors, said coastguard spokesman Peter Westenberg.

It is thought some of the crew may have gone down with the stricken vessel.

Earlier, rescuers pulled four bodies from the sea, before suspending the search overnight.

Some 13 crew members were also rescued from the Baltic Ace despite strong winds and waves of up to 9.8ft (3m) hampering the operation.

Four were flown to a hospital in Rotterdam, seven taken by rescue helicopter to a hospital in Belgium and two were being treated on board a ship that found them.

Mr Oldenburger said they were "all in shock" and suffering from hypothermia, but their lives were not in danger.

The cause of the collision is not known.

The shipping lane where the accident happened is one of the busiest in the North Sea and an important passing point for ships sailing into Rotterdam port, Europe's largest and the fifth-largest in the world.

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