British cargo ship Scot Carrier and Danish cargo ship Karin Hoej following a collision in the Baltic Sea
(Picture: AP)Two people have gone missing after a British cargo ship collided with another vessel in the Baltic Sea.
A rescue operation has been launched following the crash which took place between the Swedish coastal town of Tstad and the nearby island of Bornholm at 3.30am on Monday.
Danish-registered ship Karin Hoej, which had two people on board, capsized and was upside down, the Swedish Maritime Administration said.
The ship had been sailing from Sodertalje in Sweden to Nykobing Falster in southern Denmark.
Both persons remain missing as rescue crews scramble to find them.
The other ship, a British-registered Scot Carrier, is functional and its crew is safe.
A spokesperson for the Danish Meteorological Institute said there was fog in the area at the time of the incident.
The accident took place in Swedish territorial waters and the two ships were sailing in the same direction when they came into contact, the Danish JOC said.
Denmark was helping Swedish authorities with the rescue. A rescue boat has been launched from Bornholm island and a helicopter had also been dispatched from the Danish side.
Civilian vessels in the vicinity were also helping the search and rescue mission.
Swedish news agency TT cited a Swedish coastguard spokesman as saying one of the vessels was 90m long and the other was 55m.
Denmark’s JOC was not immediately able to say whether the ships carried any hazardous cargo.
