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[Goldrusher]

Two ships collided about 100 km east of Rotterdam:

Dutch sea rescue services launched a major rescue operation Wednesday after two ships collided in a busy North Sea shipping lane off the coast of Rotterdam, Dutch news agency ANP reported.

"A helicopter and two rescue ships are underway to the scene while other ships in the area also made their way there," it said, saying that one of the ships is believed to be sinking.

The collision happened at around 7:15 pm (1815 GMT) when the ships identified as the Bahaman-registered autoship Baltic Ace and the Corvus J out of Cyprus crashed into each other about 100 kilometres (60 miles) off Rotterdam.

It was unknown whether there were any casualties and the Dutch Coast Guard could not immediately be reached for comment.

The shipping lane where the accident happened is one of the busiest in the North Sea and an important passing point for ships sailing into the Rotterdam port, Europe's largest and the fifth-largest in the world.

update dec 7:

24 crew members were on board

13 have been rescued

5 confirmed deaths

6 people are still missing



The ships that collided:

Corvus J (Cyprus)
container ship
Grangemouth, Scotland --> Antwerp, Belgium

Baltic Ace (Bahamas) ---------------------> this one sunk!
car carrier
Zeebrugge, Belgium --> Kotka, Finland

The cargo:

1417 Mitsubishis
12 Ferraris
8 Bentleys
6 Rolls Royces
4 Lamborghinis


The other boat:

 

[Row]

how does this even happen that far out and with all their modern technology?

 

[FelixOrion]

Holy crap. Hopefully they find them.


Also: goddamn on that cargo.

 

[mltplkxr]

Now that's how you sink an engine!
#richkidsofinstagram

 

[strafer]

The Baltic Ace sunk, which according to (unconfirmed) sources, had quite a few super cars on board:

4x Lamborghini Aventadór
6x Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead
8x Bentley
12x Ferrari

 

[lunarworks]

4x Lamborghini Aventadór
6x Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead
8x Bentley
12x Ferrari

I know what Princess Ariel is getting for her birthday.

 

[CrankyJay]

Some rich asshole is pitching a fit his car won't make it when 11 people are missing.

 

[Dmented]

4x Lamborghini Aventadór
6x Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead
8x Bentley
12x Ferrari

I'll find a way to get them.

 

[Fury Sense]

Sinterklaas will still deliver everything

 

[V_Arnold]

Fuck the cargo. I hope that those that are missing survive

 

[ReturnOfTheRAT]

I'm skeptical of human error when you have with a cargo like that.

 

[Kabouter]

Last signal indicated 18.5 knots apparently, that seems quite fast. Must have been a terrible collision :/

 

[Kiraly]

I'm skeptical of human error when you have with a cargo like that.

That ship takes like 30 min to even turn the slightest.

 

[sammich]

That ship takes like 30 min to even turn the slightest.

Yea but, i mean its not like something that big can sneak up on you. Maybe it was on a funny angle....

 

[triplestation]

lol fucking aaron paul

oh

 

[Divius]

How does something like this even happen?

 

[Wazzim]

60 miles from here eh? I hope they find the missing crew members.

 

[Neuromancer]

Who gives a shit about the cars, people are missing. I wonder about some of you guys.

 

[Little Old Man]

Looks like BMW opening that car dealership in the English Channel several years back has attracted some competition.

Spoiler

Sorry, I hope the guys are found safe.

 

[fastford58]

Yea but, i mean its not like something that big can sneak up on you. Maybe it was on a funny angle....

Come on, Tyrone...

 

[sammich]

Come on, Tyrone...

Ahh Tyrone.. you fat bastard.

Im soo going to watch it again tonight.

 

[AbortedWalrusFetus]

Those are the coordinates I have for the two ships. They went out of AIS range around noon. The blips you see at the tail end are from the ship that did not sink, the Corvus J.

It should be noted that my work's software (beta version that I am currently working on, so grain of salt needed) flagged the Baltic Ace as a Guarded risk vessel, mostly due to its flag of convenience and the fact that its owners and operators are registered in Isle of Man and its technical management company is out of Liberia. According to my data the safety management certificate of the Baltic Ace is due to expire in a few days as well.

The Corvus J has mostly German ownership and its safety management certificate is up to date until next year.

I'm not certain which vessel is at fault because I unfortunately didn't have situational awareness coverage of the incident area. What I can say is that it's night time and there is a crazy amount of vessel traffic in that area.

 

[Goldrusher]

4 confirmed dead.

7 still missing.

 

[ffdgh]

How did they collide with all that open water? I hope the other 7 are ok...

 

[xam3l]

I know what Princess Ariel is getting for her birthday.

ahah win!

 

[Mesoian]

Ahh Tyrone.. you fat bastard.

Im soo going to watch it again tonight.

"Ah..Tyrone. You silly fat bastard".

 

[LQX]

I bet they will find no trace of those cars in the ocean.

 

[Deleted member 81567]

Fucking Cyprus man, we made the mistake with the Helios plane crash in 05.

 

[waypoetic]

Which boat won?

 

[IdreamofHIME]

No wonder they crashed if they were 100km EAST of Rotterdam, fuck me that's just outside Dortmund.

 

[Vilix]

It has a capacity of 2,132 cars and according to (unconfirmed) sources, had quite a few super cars on board:

4x Lamborghini Aventadór
6x Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead
8x Bentley
12x Ferrari]

I guess the super rich have to pay more revenues one way or another.

 

[FStop7]

One of the busiest waterways in the world, with what can be some of the worst seas, in very large ships that handle like floating apartment buildings. It's kind of amazing it doesn't happen more often.

 

[shira]

I guess the super rich have to pay more revenues one way or another.

Insurance

 

[itsgreen]

Holy crap was just talking about the right ship with a friend!

At least a ship from its class... wow... awefull coincidence!

 

[Technosteve]

the boat insurer ain't going to pay for those cars.

 

[Kabouter]

Updated the thread title to match the current state of things, they also abandoned the search for now due to the rough seas and the strong wind, and will decide this morning whether to continue. I can only assume that given how cold the water is etc., that this is a search for seven more bodies.

 

[Goldrusher]

Final toll:

13 rescued
5 dead
6 missing


The cargo:

1417 Mitsubishis
12 Ferraris
8 Bentleys
6 Rolls Royces
4 Lamborghinis


The other boat:

 

[ElectricBlue187]

4x Lamborghini Aventadór
6x Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead
8x Bentley
12x Ferrari

it's kinda sad that I was more emotionally affected by this than the 4 nameless deaths

 

[Goldrusher]

I also don't mean any disrespect by mentioning it, but those are rare and expensive cars.
Nobody would care if it was a ship with bananas or kiwis.