Maltese-flagged tanker towed after collision

A stricken tanker loaded with a type of gasoline was being towed to safety after colliding with a huge cargo vessel in the English Channel.

All 13 crew of the 6,970-tonne Uranus were rescued by helicopter after the Maltese-flagged vessel was in collision with the 179,000-tonne Hanjin Rizhao about 60 miles west of the coast of Brittany in north west France.

No one was hurt in the incident and none of the Uranus cargo of pygas is thought to have escaped.

The crew were airlifted to Lanveoc Poulmic, south of the French port of Brest.

The Uranus, which had been listing heavily to port, was connected to a French tug which was towing the vessel slowly to Brest.

The Turkish-owned Uranus was heading for Amsterdam from the Italian port of Porto Marghera when the collision occurred with the Panamanian-flagged Hanjin Rizhao.

Two investigating officers from Transport Malta’s Merchant Shipping Directorate, a master mariner and an engineer, went to Brest.