Gas tanker towed to safety after collision

A STRICKEN tanker loaded with a type of gasoline had to be towed to safety after colliding with a huge cargo vessel in the English Channel.

All 13 crew of the 6,970-tonne Uranus were rescued by helicopter after the Maltese-flagged vessel was in collision with the 179,000-tonne Hanjin Rizhao about 60 miles west of the coast of Brittany, in north-west France.

No one was hurt in the incident and none of the Uranus cargo of pygas is thought to have escaped. The crew were airlifted to Lanveoc Poulmic, south of the French port of Brest.