German authorities recover cargo ship that sank following deadly collision in North Sea

The Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration of Germany (Wasser- und Schifffahrtsverwaltung des Bundes; WSV) has confirmed that salvors have recovered the wreck of a cargo ship that sank following a collision with another vessel in the North Sea in October last year.

The salvage of the wreck of the UK-registered general cargo vessel Verity was completed on the evening (local time) of Tuesday, September 3. This brought an end to the WSV-led recovery effort, which began in the middle of June.

The ship had broken apart following the incident and needed to be recovered in sections. The stern was the first to be lifted to the surface on Friday, August 30, while the bow followed four days later.

The body of one crewmember was found inside a cabin in the stern following its recovery. The remains have since been handed over to the German Federal Police.

In addition to two survivors, another crewmember had earlier been found dead shortly after the collision between Verity and the Bahamas-registered cargo ship Polesie southwest of the island of Heligoland on October 24, 2023. None of Polesie's 22-strong crew suffered injuries from the incident, while the bodies of three other sailors from Verity have not been found to this day.

The salvage effort will now make way for recovery of smaller debris from the seabed. This will then be followed by a final survey as part of the investigation into the tragedy.