Stranded cargo ship towed to safety

The stricken cargo ship had been floating in the Baltic Sea.

HELSINKI, Finland -- A German cargo ship laden with oil was being towed to safety in the Baltic after hitting a lighthouse and capsizing, Finnish coastguard authorities said.

The coastguard said the cause of the accident had yet to be determined, but they believed the 5,200 deadweight tonne vessel Janra had probably hit a lighthouse, Troeskeln Vaestra, in the early hours of Saturday.

The 11 crew of the ship, which had been carrying 260 tonnes of oil as well as paper, had been winched to safety unscathed in rain and snow shortly after the accident.

It would take some 20 hours to tow the vessel to the island of Aland in the Baltic Sea, after it had been drifting for over a day with the stern visible above the water some 60 kilometres (35 miles) south of Aland, a coastguard spokesman said.

Janra was still leaking some oil, especially light fuel oil, but the leakage was not serious, the spokesman said.

The steel lighthouse at Troeskeln Vaestra disappeared near where Jarna capsized leading authorities to believe the vessel had struck the steel structure, which stands about 20 metres clear of the water.

It has been rebuilt four times over the past 10 years after being hit by ships.

Janra, on its way from Finland to Germany, carried 230 tonnes of heavy fuel oil and 30 tonnes of light fuel oil as well as paper products.

Visibility at the time of the accident -- around 4 a.m. (0200 GMT) -- was low because of rain and snow but winds were light.

Ten crew members who left the vessel in lifeboats were later picked up by coastguard emergency rescue vessels.

The captain, the last to leave the ship about an hour later, was pulled over the side into a Swedish coast guard vessel.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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