Cargo Ship Sinks Off Dutch Coast

A cargo ship sank in the North Sea on Wednesday night after it collided into another vessel. Rescue workers have been able to locate and save 13 people who were aboard the Baltic Ace but four crew members have already been found missing.

According to the Huffington Post, another seven people are still missing.

Coast Guard spokesman Marcel Oldenburger said:

“We can confirm that four bodies have been found, along with 13 people rescued alive.”

According to the Associated Press, the Baltic Ace, a 485-foot cargo ship, collided with the Corvus Jnear, a 440 foot ship, of the coast of the Netherlands. Verburg said that the Corvus J was “badly damaged” during the crash but was not in “danger of sinking.”

Coast guard spokesman Peter Verburg said:

“We have found life rafts, and the people in them are being picked up by helicopters … At the moment we are solely focused on getting the people to safety.”

Kees Brinkman, a spokesman for the rescuers, said that he still had hopes of finding the missing crew members but acknowledged that their “chances of survival are shrinking” if they are in the water.

Two navy patrol ships have joined the search for the missing crew members and “helicopters are trying, in (strong wind) and high waves to bring the people to safety,” according to the Dutch Defense Ministry.

ABC News reports that the cause of the collision is unknown at this time. The Baltic Ace and the Corvus J were both on their way to Belgium when they collided about 40 miles off the coast of the Southern Netherlands.