Verity cargo ship: One dead and four still missing as ships collide off German coast in North Sea

One sailor has died and four are missing after two cargo ships collided in the North Sea off the coast of Germany and one of them sank, German authorities said. The vessels collided at around 5am, Germany’s Central Command for Maritime Emergencies said.

The site of the collision was about 19 miles north-east of the island of Langeoog, which is just off the German mainland. The British-flagged Verity, which had seven people on board and was en route from Bremen, Germany, to the English port of Immingham, sank shortly after the collision.

A signal from the ship was lost at about 5.20am, suggesting that it had already gone down, and wreckage was found. Two sailors were rescued. The body of one man was recovered, while four are still missing, the emergency command said.

“We are now doing everything humanly possible to rescue more people alive,” the head of the emergency command, Robby Renner, said at a news conference in Cuxhaven.

The water temperature at the time of the accident was about 12C (54F), which based on experience, shows people can survive for about 20 hours, said Michael Ippich, of the German Maritime Search and Rescue Service.

Several rescue ships and aircraft taking part in the search had not located the missing crew members by mid-afternoon. Rescuers were considering the possibility that they were still inside the Verity, and planned to send divers down to the wreck to check whether there are any signs of life, Mr Renner said.

“The conditions on the spot are extremely difficult,” he said. “Because of the weather and visibility underwater, it’s incredibly difficult to conduct such an operation.”

The other, bigger ship — the Bahamas-flagged Polesie — remained afloat and had 22 people on board. None of them were believed to be injured. The vessel was heading from Hamburg to Spain.

There was no immediate word on the cause of the collision. Vessels supporting the rescue effort included a cruise ship, the Iona, that was en route from Hamburg to Rotterdam and had doctors on board.