Thirty-one crew men were rescued after their two ships including one carrying a Sri Lankan national flag collided off the coast of Sharjah in UAE
in the early hours of Friday a UAE news source reported


The National said that the police operations room was notified of the accident at around 3.30am and dispatched rescue teams to the area, about 9 nautical miles out.

"One of the ships with a Sri Lankan flag was coming from Iran to Dubai with 9 Indian crew members, it was empty, while the other ship with a Comoros Islands flag was leaving Dubai to Somalia with 22 crew members had a load of different goods including 46 cars," said UAQ police spokesman
.
"After the collision the Sri Lankan ship sunk but all its crew were rescued and all were in good health."

He said efforts are underway to raise the sunken ship while the second vessel was brought to Sharjah Port for repairs.

Police said the cause of the accident was still being investigated but initial inquiries indicated the Sri Lankan ship had stopped and did not have its lights on, The National said.