Five missing after collision with Maltese registered ship

by Franco Aloisio

Five crew members were missing on Tuesday after the Liberian-flagged chemical tanker Martina collided with a 700 teu Maltese-registered container ship Werder Bremen in Swedish waters.

A Swedish diving team was due to be sent down to the vessel, which sank immediately after the collision, in the hopes that some of the crew members had survived in air pockets. The collision occurred in poor visibility off the Hoganas peninsula in south-west Sweden at around 8 am. According to Torben Ravn, managing director of the Martina's managers BR Marina, it was unlikely that crew could have survived for several hours in water temperatures of four degrees Celsius.

Rescue efforts were initially hampered by fears that the Martina's cargo of hydrochloric acid would make approaching the vessel dangerous for the divers.

The 1968-built 815 dwt chemical tanker was travelling south from Sarpsborg in Norway to Copenhagen when the collision occurred.

The 1999-built Werder Bremen, which is flagged in Malta, was on a northerly course heading for St Petersburg, according to Mr Ravn. So far, there are no details as to the cause of the accident, as about 20 vessels and a number of helicopters from both Denmark and Sweden searched for the survivors. This is the second collision involving a Maltese-registered tanker this month. A Malta-flagged ship Ideal is being investigated following the sinking of an Italian fishing trawler in the Adriatic Sea.