Oil tanker, cargo ship collide in English Channel

An oil tanker carrying 38,000 tonnes of petrol to Guatemala, collided with the Huayan Endeavor cargo ship on its way from the Netherlands to Nigeria in the English Channel

The English Channel separates southern England from northern France, and links the southern part of the North Sea to the Atlantic Ocean.

The collision between Seafrontier tanker and the cargo ship happened after 2am in the Dover strait between the English Channel and the North Sea.

The Strait of Dover is the busiest shipping lane in the world and is located at the Channel's eastern end, is its narrowest point, while its widest point lies between Lyme Bay and the Gulf of Saint Malo near its midpoint

Both ships are Hong King-flagged and were carrying 49 crew members from both India and China.

"Although both vessels have been damaged, there is no water ingress and no pollution," a spokesperson for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said.

A spokesperson for the RNLI said the Seafrontier suffered "a hole above the water line and damage to the superstructure", the Independent reported.