Oil tanker collides with cargo ship in Dover Strait off UK

PARIS — An oil tanker and a large cargo ship collided Saturday in the Dover Strait between Britain and France but the accident caused no casualties or pollution and both vessels were able to set off again, French authorities said.

The local Maritime Prefecture said the collision between the two Honk Kong-flagged vessels took place overnight 20 miles (32 kilometres) off the northern French port of Dunkirk, in the British zone of the strait between the English Channel and the North Sea, one of the world’s busiest sea routes. It said none of the tanker’s 27 crew members or the 22 on the freighter was injured.

The prefecture said the 183-meter (600-foot) Seafrontier tanker, which carries 38,000 tons of gasoline, was able to set off again to the Belgian port of Antwerp after being in a “watched drift” following the collision.

The 224-meter (735-foot) Huayan Endeavour freighter suffered only minor damage in the accident and headed to Dunkirk.