Car ferry owner ordered to pump wreck out
Saturday, 14 December 2002 21:11
The owner of a Norwegian ship that sank this morning in the English Channel has been ordered by France's maritime police to pump out the 2,000 tonnes of fuel on board.
The ship, The Tricolor, was transporting nearly 3,000 cars and sank after colliding with another ship in dense fog.
The vessel's 24 crew abandoned ship after the collision, which occurred about 30 miles east of Kent.
The other ship was badly damaged but made its way safely to Antwerp.
The Tricolor's captain and two officers were taken on board the other ship, the Bahamas-registered container ship Kariba, which has made its way to the Belgian port of Antwerp for inspection.
The rest of the crew were picked up by a tug-boat and have been taken to hospital in the French port of Dunkirk, but there were no reports of injuries.
The Tricolor had picked up its cargo of 2,862 new cars in Zeebrugge, Belgium, and was on its way to Southampton.
The loss is expected to amount to between ¤40m and ¤50m.
