A chemical tanker ran into trouble after a collision off the coast of France today but authorities said its 13 crew was rescued and its toxic cargo was not leaking.
The YM Uranus, which is sailing under a Maltese flag, apparently hit another ship south of the island of Ouessant off Brittany in the English Channel at about 4.30am.
Rescuers took 13 crew members to safety by helicopter, a port authority spokesman said.
Brest's port authority said a navy tugboat had managed to hook up to the tanker and begin towing it towards Brest. The vessel would not arrive in Brest before Friday night.
"No pollution has so far been observed," the port authority added in a statement.
Patrick Adamson, a spokesman for V Ships which manages the 120-metre-long YM Uranus, said the vessel had been in a collision with the bulk carrier Hanjin Rizhao, which was carrying steel.
"It is afloat, not drifting," he said. "We don't know the damage to the other vessel."
Mr Adamson said the collision had created a "breach in the hull" that led to "water ingress".
He said the ingress has now stopped. “There's no pollution at the moment."
The YM Uranus, built in 2008, was sailing from Porto Marghera in Italy to Amsterdam and was about 100km south west of Ouessant when it got into difficulties.
The Hanjin Rizhao anchored off of Ouessant after the incident, before resuming its journey from Las Palmas to Rotterdam.
About 150 ships per day use the two shipping lanes put in place to regulate marine traffic around Ouessant.
Agencies