A BRITISH ship has sunk after it crashed with another vessel off the coast of Germany as a desperate search for missing crew is underway.
At least twenty people are thought to be missing after the two cargo ships including the Verity, bound for England, collided.
A desperate search for the missing Verity crew is underway as several people are unaccounted for
The Iona P&O cruise ship (pictured) has joined in the rescue efforts following the horror crashSupplied
The Verity collided with the Bahamas-flagged Polesie, which remained afloat with 22 people on boardVesseltracker/@maasspotter
A P&O spokesperson told The Sun their cruise ship Iona has joined the search for missing crew in the North Sea.
They are also providing medical help for anyone in need on board the cruiser.
One person is believed to have been rescued from the water and is receiving medical help.
Rhys Johnson, onboard the Iona, told The Sun that passengers were woken just before 6am with an announcement that the crew were helping with the search and rescue operation.
The 24-year-old shop worker said: “There are helicopters, search vessels and two of our RHIBs helping.
“People are saying…the British ship has sunk. It’s incredibly distressing.
“We set off for Rotterdam from Hamburg yesterday, and we were about 200 metres away from the ships.
“Everyone on here is sad and concerned and in a state of panic.”
Several other rescue vessels and a helicopter are at the scene assisting in the mission to locate the crew.
The rescue efforts are being made more challenging by brutal 40mph winds and huge 10ft waves.
The Verity and Polesie collided around 5am on Tuesday roughly 14 miles off the coast of Heligoland.
The 300ft British vessel, on its way from Germany to the Brit port Immingham, sank following the horror crash.
The Polesie managed to stay afloat with 22 people on board.
Bahamas-flagged Polesie was heading to Spain at the time of the smash.
Heligoland operates as Germany’s central command for maritime emergencies, where the rescue ship Hermann Marwede was sent out from.