German authorities halt search for four missing crew members of British cargo ship

Seven people were on board the Verity when it sank after colliding with a larger cargo vessel

The cargo ship Polesie is guided into the harbour of Cuxhaven, northern Germany, after the collision in the North Sea. AFP

German authorities have halted their search for four missing crew members of a cargo ship that sank on Tuesday after a collision with a larger vessel in the North Sea.

Seven people were on board the Verity when the incident occurred shortly before 5am off the German coast. It went down shortly after.

The British ship was travelling to the English port of Immingham from Bremen in Germany, carrying steel, when it collided with the Bahamas-flagged Polesie, which was double the length and had about 10 times the carrying capacity in comparison.

A search was launched, which led to the rescue of two sailors and recovery of one body.

However, rescue ships and aircraft participating in the search were unable to locate the remaining four crew members. Divers sent down to the wreck of the Verity to check for any signs of life were unable to find anything.

Officials said that the water temperature at the time of the collision was about 12ºC, in which people can survive for about 20 hours.

Germany’s Central Command for Maritime Emergencies said the entire sea area where the missing sailors might be was searched again during the night without results, and rescuers then stopped the search.

It said that search efforts on the surface will not be resumed on Wednesday.

But the emergency command will consider “what measures can be taken around the site of the accident in the course of the day”.

The Polesie, which had 22 people on board, was able to reach the German port of Cuxhaven under its own steam.

Authorities have not revealed the cause of the collision.

The Verity was about 900m long and could carry 3,360 tonnes of cargo, fuel, crew and other materials. It was previously assisted by UK and Netherlands rescue teams after its engine failed off the coast of Devon in February 2016, Vessel Finder said.

The accident comes weeks after a ship with hundreds of electric cars on board caught fire in the North Sea off the coast of the Netherlands.

The Fremantle Highway was sailing between Bremerhaven in Germany and Port Said in Egypt when the blaze broke out in July.

The accident occurred close to Ameland, part of an archipelago of ecologically sensitive islands situated in the Waddenzee area.

One person died and several were injured.

Efforts to tow the ship to shore were complicated by poor weather, but it was eventually brought to the northern port of Eemshaven, in the Netherlands.