Car carrier sinks after collision near Rotterdam

   A Bahamian-flagged car carrier has sunk off the coast of Rotterdam after an overnight collision with a small containership, with at least four crew members reportedly dead and seven more missing.
   The Baltic Ace was en route from Zeebrugge to Kotka, Finland, when it collided with the Cyprus-registered Corvus J in the North Sea. The 700-TEU Corvus J was en route from Scotland to Antwerp.
   The Baltic Ace was operated by United European Car Carriers, on charter from Ray Shipping, while the container vessel, which sustained heavy damage but is not in danger of sinking, is owned by Germany’s Jungerhans Reederei.
   Thirteen crew members were rescued from the car carrier, with the crash occurring roughly 40 miles outside of Rotterdam on one the world’s busiest sea lanes.
   A rescue operation reportedly sprang into action when news of the collision broke, involving two Dutch navy patrol ships and supporting helicopters, but hopes of finding the missing crew are receding by the hour due to the icy conditions.
   “We still hope to find them,” Kees Brinkman, a spokesman for the rescuers, told Dutch television four hours after the collision, as reported by the Associated Press. “Their chances of survival are shrinking.”
   The 12-man crew of the containership were still onboard and unharmed.
   The cause of the collision is not yet known. – Eric Johnson