THE HAGUE (Reuters) – The Dutch coastguard is sending rescue boats and helicopters to evacuate 18 individuals from a ship that collided with one other vessel in the center of a storm off the coast of the Netherlands.
The vessel, the Maltese registered Julietta D. Cargo ship sure for Amsterdam from Germany, collided with an oil and chemical substances tanker, the coastguard stated in an announcement.
The Jullietta D. is rudderless and taking in water. The 18 crew members are being evacuated, the coastguard stated. The state of affairs on the oil tanker is secure, it added.
Rescue efforts are hampered by storm Corrie which is inflicting wind gusts of as much as 120 km per hour (75 miles per hour) on the North Sea.
(Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg; Editing by Edmund Blair)
