A burning cargo ship which crashed in the North Sea is expected to sink, and a missing sailor is presumed dead, a minister said.
Portuguese vessel Solong is drifting after a collision with US tanker Stena Immaculate on Monday.
Transport minister Mike Kane told MPs that Solong “continues to burn” and the Coastguard has said “it is unlikely the vessel will remain afloat.
He said the “working assumption” is one crew member from the container ship has died, after a search and rescue operation was ended on Monday when “the chances of their survival had unfortunately significantly diminished”.
The Government “will do everything to recover the body of the mariner”, he added.
Mr Kane said something went “terribly wrong” for the crash to happen, and there is “no evidence” of foul play.
There were fears Solong was carrying sodium cyanide, but shipping company Ernst Russ, which manages the vessel, said that was not the case.
Four empty containers on board that “previously contained the hazardous chemical” will “continue to be monitored”, it added.
Aerial images from the scene show three tugboats are alongside Solong, and at least one attached to it.
Smoke is continuing to billow from the ship.
