A Norwegian ship with a cargo of almost 3,000 new cars, including high-end BMWs, Volvos and Saabs, sank in shallow waters in the English Channel, after a collision in thick fog with a Bahamas-registered container vessel.
There were no casualties, thanks to the speedy arrival of the rescue services.
Although badly damaged, the container vessel was able to make it to the Belgian port of Antwerp.
Rescue services said the sea had been calm but visibility poor at the time of the collision on Saturday.
‘There was clearly a radar defect aboard at least one of the ships,’ said Captain Antoine Goulley, spokesman for France’s Channel and North Sea Maritime Authority.
France’s Maritime Authority said that the Norwegian ship would be floated as soon as it was established that there was no pollution threat.
The cars, straight from production plants, each had about five litres of oil in them, but this was likely to evaporate quickly and did not present a pollution threat, officials said.
The French Coast Guard said the accident should not interfere with shipping in the area.
AP
