Search called off for crew missing from British vessel that sank in North Sea

25 October 17:00

In an update from Havariekommando central command, the group said it stopped the search on Wednesday night for the sunken UK-flagged small general cargo vessel Verity and the four crew from the vessel who remain unaccounted for.

"Due to the numerous operational resources - ships and helicopters - in the area, it was possible to completely search the sea area in question again at night. After this produced no results, the emergency services stopped the search. The surface search will not be resumed today," the Havariekommando post said.

The German authorities said the larger cargo vessel that collided with Verity, Bahamas-flagged Polesie, docked in Cuxhaven in Lower Saxony and reached its berth under its own power. All crew from Polesie are accounted for and are uninjured.

Overnight on Tuesday, 24 October, Havariekommando said sea rescue cruisers Hamburg, Ernst Meier-Hedde and Hermann Marwede from the German Society for the Rescue of Shipwrecked Persons (DGzRS) searched the area of water around the site of the collision along with federal police ship Bad Duben, customs boat Jade, the Mayor Weichmann of the water police and the pilot tender Wangerooge. Thermal imaging cameras and night vision devices were used to support the search that also involved German Navy helicopters and planes from other German federal agencies.

"The plan [was] to continue the search until after midnight. The water temperatures, which are currently around 12°C, give the rescue workers the chance of finding survivors up to [that] point," the Havariekommando said at the time.

An earlier post from the group said they had factored in the possibility the four missing crew had not made it out of the vessel before it sank.

24 October 16:45

As the search for four missing crew continues after a two-vessel collision in the German Bight in the early morning hours of 24 October approximately 22 km southwest of Heligoland island and 31 km northeast of Langeog island, authorities have initiated the first diving operation.

An update from Havariekommando central command reported that limited visibility underwater had seen an initial dive to try to reach the UK-flagged, small general cargo vessel Verity, which is assumed lost, come up empty before strong currents curtailed further diving operations for the time being. 

"The conditions on site are very difficult. The visibility depth on the wreck is 1-2 m. Diving is only possible within a short time window around the so-called ’backwater’ (when the tide changes from high to low and vice versa), in which the current is weaker," Havariekommando said. 

An earlier update from the authority said seven crew had been on board the 3,700-dwt coastal cargo vessel Verity when the vessel collided with a much larger vessel. Havariekommando said two people have been rescued, with both receiving treatment in hospital. The body of a third person has been recovered, leaving four crew members still missing. Havariekommando said the 22 crew on board the other vessel involved in the collision, the 38,000-dwt Handysize cargo vessel Polesie, are uninjured. 

In an initial statement, the group said "The accident command currently assumes Verity sank as a result of the collision... The search for the shipwreck is underway. Numerous ships are in use for this purpose. Polesie is buoyant; it has 22 people on board."

Weather conditions at the site of the incident are reportedly 3-m seas with 24-knot wind speeds, and the airspace over the accident site is closed within a 10-nautical mile radius to all but aircraft assisting in the search efforts. 

Havariekommando’s emergency response so far includes search efforts utilising half a dozen private "sea rescue vessels" from the German Society for the Rescue of Shipwrecked Persons (’The sea rescuers’, DGzRS), emergency response tug Nordic and pilot tender vessel Wangerooge, along with police boats and helicopters. 

The DGzRS sea rescue vessel Hermann Marwede is currently co-ordinating search and rescue, and Havariekommando said a search and rescue aircraft is scanning the waters in the area where the collision occurred. 

In addition to official vessels, private rescue craft and aircraft, P&O Cruises’ 344-m cruise ship Iona is on the scene supporting search efforts and providing access to medical care, with its own doctors on board and additional medical personnel being transported to the site by helicopter.

The larger cargo vessel, Bahamas-flagged Polesie, is listed in VesselsValue’s database under the ownership of Ares Nine Shipping, Ltd, with Poland’s Polsteam the company operating the vessel. Polsteam operates 54 ships with a total dwt capacity of 2.1M tonnes including Handysize and Kamsarmax bulk carriers. In addition to bulk carriers, the Polsteam Group operates ferries through Unity Line company.

British-Dutch shipping group Favership Ships and Faversham Ships Holland operate cargo vessels ranging from 2,380 to 4,850 dwt. Faversham Ships said its fleet is made up of conventional and low-air draft coastal vessels suitable for dangerous cargoes. 

"A ’hands-on’ approach to the operation of the ships is undertaken by ex-seafarers with specific experience of this kind of vessel and trade," the company said on its website.

Faversham Ships’ LinkedIn page showed Verity had been in drydock with MMS Ship Repair on the River Humber on the UK’s east coast. Faversham Ships also included a post showing Verity has been under charter with Casper Chartering Ltd, with Faversham Ships undertaking technical management of the vessel.

A month ago, Casper Chartering posted that Verity had come out of two months in drydock at MMS Ship Repair.
"Verity is now back in action, and in its true style, it jumps straight in at the deep end with a heavy industrial project where it was tasked by our friends at Cargo Mariners Ltd to move some large/heavy pieces from the UnitedKingdom to the Netherlands."

Casper Chartering said it specialises in the movement of breakbulk cargo including steel commodities, project and equipment commodities "including all things heavy and out of gauge". The company said it also handles dry cargo commodities with an "inhouse fleet, within the traditional trading routes".