One dead, four missing after ship sinks in North Sea

One person has died and four are missing from the crew of a cargo ship that sank after colliding with another vessel in the North Sea, German authorities said on Tuesday.

Two further crew members from the sunken ship were rescued after the collision with a second cargo vessel early on Tuesday southwest of the island of Helgoland, German Sea Rescue Society (DGzRS) spokesman Christian Stipeldey said.

The Polesie and Verity vessels collided at around 0300 GMT about 12 nautical miles (22 kilometres) southwest of Heligoland, likely causing the Verity to sink, central command said in a statement.

The Polesie, which was carrying 22 passengers, is still waterborne, according to the authorities.

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