Near-miss for wreck

ANOTHER ship came close to hitting the wreck of the 50,000-tonne car-carrying vessel which sank in the English Channel, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said last night.

The "near miss" was revealed in pictures taken on Sunday from a coastguard aircraft which surveyed the sunken Tricolor, which is lying 30 miles east of Ramsgate, Kent.

An MCA spokesman said its aircraft was forced to warn the cargo vessel NDS Provider - which came within a quarter of a mile of the Tricolor - that she was about to hit the wreck, and she diverted just in time.

The pictures also fail to show any evidence that the scene of the wreck had been marked with buoys or warning vessels.

But the spokesman refused to speculate that this was evidence French authorities had failed to warn ships of the wreck.

"You can’t always tell what is outside the picture frame," he said.

Less than a day later, another ship - the Nicola - hit the Tricolor and had to be pulled off by tugs.

The Nicola hit early on Monday, just two days after the Tricolor sank, taking with it £30 million worth of luxury cars.

None of the seven people on board the Nicola was hurt but the ship remained marooned on the wreck for several hours before three tugs pulled it free.