Fuel tanker in Channel collision with container ship

A stricken tanker carrying 6,000 tonnes of gasoline was being towed to safety after colliding with a cargo vessel in the English Channel early this morning. All 13 crew of the 6,970-tonne YM Uranus were rescued by helicopter after the Maltese-flagged vessel collided with the 179,000-tonne Hanjin Rizhao about 60 miles west of the coast of Brittany in north-west France. The crew were airlifted to Lanveoc Poulmic, south of the French port of Brest. No one was hurt in the incident and none of Uranus's cargo of pygas, a byproduct of ethylene manufacture containing the industrial solvent benzene, was thought to have escaped. A French tug late attached lines and began slowly towing the Uranus, which had been listing heavily to port, towards Brest. The Turkish-owned Uranus had been heading for Amsterdam from Porto Marghera, Italy, when she collided with the Panamanian-flagged Hanjin Rizhao at about 4.30am. The crew of the stricken vessel was made up of six Filipinos, five Russians, one Bulgarian and one Latvian. A spokesman for the French regional coastguard, which was coordinating the operation, said the authorities had not received any indication of a spill. "For the moment we have no sign of pollution. The helicopter flights being carried out right now will confirm or reject this analysis," he told French radio, adding it was a priority for authorities to establish the "exact composition" of the solvent on board.