#PORTS & SHIPPING - Seven-crew have been saved from Florece (PHOTO) an Irish managed general cargoship which sank off the UK, following a collision with a Greek owned chemical tanker on Friday, according to www.tradewinds.no

The accident took place in the Bay of Biscay, approximately 250 miles from Land's End, the UK's Maritime and Coastguard Agency said. The Dominican flagged Florece (1990/1,960grt) which is managed by Greystones based Berg Maritime Management, sank after the 88m vessel was in collision with the 53,081-dwt tanker Afrodite, operated by Tsakos.

The crew of the Florece abandoned ship, taking to two life rafts, before being rescued by the 8,040 containership capacity Ocean Titan, operated by Pacific-Gulf Marine of the US.

Afrodite had attempted to deploy a rescue craft but was unsuccessful because of the sea swell. Falmouth Coastguard helped co-ordinate the rescue operation with Spanish counterparts to rescue the crew of Florece, a mix of Russians, Polish and Ukrainians. The 187m Afrodite was not reported as taking on water.