Ships collide in North Sea, killing four

On Wednesday the car-laden freighter Baltic Ace departed from Zeebrugge on the Belgian coast and collided with a container ship some 80 km off the Dutch coast. The freighter sank, forcing the 24 crew members to abandon ship. Belgian and Dutch emergency services were the first on the scene and able to pull 13 survivors from the icy waters. While seven crewmen are still missing, rescuers have abandoned hope of finding any more survivors and have today called off the risky rescue operation.