A Swedish general cargo ship has been brought into port following a collision with a reefer off Denmark that almost sank it.
Erik Thun’s 5,000-dwt Helge (built 2013) took on water after the incident involving the 500,000-cbf Wild Cosmos (built 1998) in the North Sea off Rinkobing on Friday.
The Visserij website cited Ringkobing Marine Home Guard commander Nikolaj Hviid as saying the vessel was towed into Esbjerg on Saturday.
“Based on the damage to the ship and the bad weather at the time of the collision, the first report was that the cargo ship was going to sink. But we managed to stabilise the ship so that it could be towed,” he added.
An improvement in the weather allowed the tug Sigyn to be deployed.
“There it is up to the insurance company of the shipping company to decide whether and where the ship needs to be repaired,” Hviid said.
The vessel is entered with Gard in Norway.
All seven seafarers were saved after jumping into the sea.
Initial reports said the vessel had sunk, but Erik Thun later told TradeWinds its latest information suggested the ship was “partially submerged”.
The last update from the company’s manager MF Shipping came on Friday night, confirming a tug had established a tow connection.
Investigation to come
The exact cause of the collision is yet unknown. A full investigation will follow, Erik Thun has said.
The crew members were picked up by a Royal Danish Navy helicopter.
The captain was taken to hospital with cuts from broken glass, but his injuries were not serious.
The accident happened 37 km off Ringkobing on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula.
The two ships were sailing in the same direction when the collision occurred.
The Wild Cosmos was on its way from Durban in South Africa to Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. The Helge was en route from Antwerp in Belgium to Porsgrunn in Norway.
