A marine expert has said nighttime ship collisions can be caused by ‘over tired’ crews after a British-flagged cargo ship was involved in a fatal collision earlier today (October 24).
One sailor has died and four others are missing after the vessel sank following a collision with another ship around 5am on Tuesday.
A search and rescue operation began after the British-flagged Verity hit a larger cargo ship, Polesie, about 14 miles (22.5km) south-west of the German island of Heligoland this morning.
While the larger, Bahamas-flagged Polesie stayed afloat, the Verity, which had departed from Bremen, Germany, and was destined for the port of Immingham on the east coast of England carrying steel coils, became submerged.
Shortly afterwards a signal from the ship was lost, German authorities said, and wreckage was found.
Searches are continuing involving several ships, aircraft, and a P&O cruise ship, with rescuers preparing to dive 98ft (30m) down to the wreckage.
Marine accident and incident causation expert Dr Phil Anderson, is a Master Mariner with more than 50 years’ experience of the industry.
Dr Anderson told Express.co.uk that in incidents such as this it was “always possible” some technical element could have failed on the ships involved, or a “human element” may also be a factor.
But he added: “Invariably there is possibly some human error involved, all the equipment, the technology should be there, and people should be trained and know how to use it. It [the equipment] should be working. But sadly, there is invariably a human element underlying most of these ‘accidents’, and those human errors can arise for many reasons.
“Certainly, there have been occasions when people have just been too tired, and they’ve been working without enough sleep as seafarers. The ship sails after the officer on the watch has been working very long hours, and literally just falls asleep.”
Dr Anderson added: “The regulations require at nighttime in particular, in addition to an officer of the watch who should be doing the navigation and collision avoidance and things, there should be a separate person keeping a lookout.
“Sadly, that second person isn’t always there, whether that was the case here I simply don’t know.”
Robby Renner, Germany’s head of Central Command for Maritime Emergencies, told a news conference in Cuxhaven it is possible the remaining crew are still alive inside the sunken vessel and that his team is doing “everything humanly possible” to rescue them.
Michael Ippich, of the German Maritime Search and Rescue Service, said the water temperature at the time of collision was 12C (54F), which people can survive for about 20 hours.
Mr Ippich told reporters: “The conditions on the spot are extremely difficult. Because of the weather and visibility, it’s incredibly difficult to conduct such an operation.”
A spokesman for P&O Cruises told the PA news agency: “P&O Cruises’ Iona is currently involved in a search and rescue operation off the coast of Germany. The incident is ongoing and Iona’s co-operation complies with international maritime law as well as being consistent with the company’s moral and legal obligations.
“Iona is scheduled to be at sea today and this event should have no impact upon tomorrow’s scheduled call to Rotterdam or the onward itinerary.”
Faversham Ships Ltd, which owns the Verity, described the incident as “ongoing” and said it is working with local authorities.
A spokesman for Associated British Ports, which owns the port of Immingham, confirmed the vessel had been due to arrive there.
A source at the Foreign Office said they were not aware of any British nationals on board.
