Two cargo ships – one British – collide in the Baltic Sea: Two crew feared dead
Two crewmen are feared dead after two cargo ships – one British – collide, leaving Danish vessel upside down off Sweden, sparking criminal investigation
Two container ships have collided in Baltic Sea off the coast of southern Sweden British vessel Scot Carrier, en route from Latvia to Scotland, struck Danish ship Karin Hoej, which was sailing from Sweden to Denmark, around 3.30amKarin capsized with at least two people in the water, ‘screams’ heard by rescuers Search has now been called off, with criminal negligence investigation launched
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Two crew members are feared to have died after British and Danish container ships collided in the Baltic Sea this morning.
The UK-flagged Scot Carrier and the Danish Karin Hoej struck one-another around 3.30am while navigating a 25-mile wide stretch of water between the southern tip of Sweden and the Danish island of Bornholm.
Automated emergency beacons were triggered with six lifeboats, three helicopters and nearby vessels rushing to the scene where they found the Karin had capsized.
Rescuers said ‘screams’ were heard coming from the water around 4.45am, believed to be from the two crew members of the Danish ship who are currently missing.
But by 9am no signs of life had been found, with Sweden’s coast guard saying it would be impossible for anyone to survive in the 4C (39F) water that long.
Search efforts have now been called off, with a preliminary probe opened into criminal negligence. All crew from the UK vessel are safe.
A Danish container ship, the Karin Hoej, has capsized (bottom of the hull pictured left) in the Baltic Sea after colliding with a British-flagged vessel (right) around 3.30am today
The British ship is thought to have hit the Karin (pictured capsized, right) as they passed in the same direction through a 25mile-wide stretch of water
Two crew aboard the Karin (pictured overturned) are missing but feared dead after a four-hour search of the icy sea turned up no sign of them
The capsized Danish vessel is now being towed to Sandhammar, on Sweden’s southern tip, where it will be anchored before search teams go inside to see if the bodies of the two crew are trapped there.
Sweden’s Maritime Administration said it appears the British vessel has hit the Danish one as the pair sailed in the same direction through the channel in the early hours, Swedish newspaper Expressen reported.
Forecasters said weather in the channel was calm but foggy at the time of the crash.
Temperatures were cold – just 4C (39F) in the water and 5C (41F) in the air – putting survival time in the water at around an hour.
Jonas Franzén, spokesman for the Swedish Maritime Administration which is leading rescue efforts, said it is not yet clear what caused the crash.
‘A preliminary investigation into gross negligence in maritime traffic is being conducted under the direction of prosecutors,’ his agency said in a statement.
Danish rescuers said two people from the Karin are missing and are assumed to have fallen in the water.
Six lifeboats, nearby civilian vessels, and three helicopters spent hours scouring the sea for survivors after hearing ‘screams’ in the water, but found nobody
Rescuers say nobody could have survived in the cold waters for long, and have since called off the search with a criminal probe launched
The accident happened around 20 miles off the coast of Ystad, in southern Sweden, and near the Danish island of Bornholm
‘I can confirm an accident has happened but I do not know the circumstances,’ Soren Hoj, managing director of Rederiet Hoj which owns the Karin Hoej, added.
‘We are deeply concerned,’ he added, confirming that the two missing crewmen are both Danish citizens.
The Scot Carrier, almost 300ft long and built in 2018, was en route from Salacgriva in northern Latvia to Montrose in Scotland when the accident happened.
Karin Hoej, built in 1977, was on its way from Södertälje, just south of the Swedish capital Stockholm, to Nykobing Falster in southern Denmark.
Both vessels were sailing in the same direction – east to west – through the 25-mile gap between Sweden’s southern tip and Bornholm island when the crash happened.
The Karin was carrying no cargo at the time of the accident.
The British-flagged Scot Carrier, a 300ft container ship built in 2018, was en route from Latvia to Scotland when it crashed around 3.30am (file image)
Danish-flagged Karin Hoej, a 180ft vessel built in 1977, was sailing from Sweden to Denmark in the same direction as the Carrier when they collided – causing the Karin to capsize (file)
