Rox-D

The "Afrodite" enroute Amsterdam-Lome was in collision with the "Florece" on Dec 9, 2011, at 3.30 a.m. 250 miles southwest of Land's End in the Bay of Biscay. Following the collision, the crew of the cargo ship took to their liferafts, whilst their ship sank. The chemical tanker sustained little damage and was not taking water. All seven crew, who were a mixture of Russian, Polish and Ukranian nationalities, have been rescued by the container vessel "Ocean Titan". Falmouth Coastguard were alerted to the plight of the crew when the EPIRB was set off as their vessel began to sink. The "Florece" was 240 miles south-south-west of Lands End at the time of the incident and was therefore within the UKs search and rescue region. Falmouth Coastguard used long range information tracking to locate the nearest ship to the position given. When they spoke to the master of the "Afrodite" he informed them that he had been in collision with the "Florece" and that the crew had abandoned to liferafts. The "Afrodite" had attempted to deploy its fast rescue craft but had been unsuccessful due to the sea swell. During this time the American coastguard had also received a distress signal from the Florece and reported this to Falmouth Coastguard. Falmouth Coastguard then made a request for assistance to any ships in the area. They also discussed the incident with the Spanish coastguard who began to make preparations for sending help. The Spanish Coastguard deployed a helicopter and a fixed-wing aircraft to the scene. The "Maersk Kampala" and the "Ocean Titan" responded, and the latter was able to go the scene to rescue the crew. All seven crew were now safe on board the "Ocean Titan" with no medical assistance required. They were taken to Portugal.

This was breaking news on the BBC this morning. Looks as though Afrodite may have been involved in a collision in the Bay of Biscay, possibly with a container ship. Not much detail at present but the BBC news item is here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16105204