Oil tanker and cargo ship collide in English Channel

An oil tanker and a cargo ship collided in the English Channel between England and France on Saturday morning. There was no reported risk of pollution following the crash and all 49 crew members were accounted for. Photo by PREMAR Manche/Twitter

July 1 (UPI) — An oil tanker and a cargo ship collided in the English Channel between Great Britain and France on Saturday morning.

The U.K. Maritime and Coastguard Agency said the agency was called to the Dover Strait at about 2 a.m. to respond to the collision between the Seafrontier tanker and the Huayang Endeavour carrier.

The Independent reported that both vessels were Hong Kong-flagged.

“A French tug is on scene with the vessels,” the agency said. “There are no injuries and all of the crew are accounted for.”

The Seafrontier was carrying nearly 38,000 metric tons of gasoline and though both vessels were damaged in the collision, the coastguard said there was “no water ingress and no pollution.”

A spokesman for maritime charity RNLI said the Seafrontier sustained “a hole above the water line and damage to the superstructure.”

“It was fortunate there were no casualties,” he said.

The Seafrontier will likely be towed to a Belgian or Dutch port for repairs while the Huayang Endeavour will dock in the U.K.

The Seafrontier was transporting gasoline to Guatemala and the Huayang Endeavour was traveling from the Netherlands to Nigeria. The two vessels had 49 crew members from India and China.

An investigation into the collision, which occurred in the midst of moderate winds and calm seas, is underway.

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