A German-registered cargo ship sank off the Portuguese Atlantic coast near Lisbon early on Thursday but all nine crew members on board escaped unharmed, local shipping officials said.
The Antigua-flagged ship, Nautila, began listing shortly after it left Lisbon on Wednesday afternoon bound for Casablanca in Morocco, a navy spokesman told the private radio station TSF.
Firefighters rescued the crew members and a navy tug then attempted to tow the ship out of the mouth of the Tagus river but the tow line broke and the cargo ship began to drift, the spokesman added.
The Nautila, which is registered in Hamburg, sank shortly after midnight off Cascais, some 30 km (20 miles) west of Lisbon, in water more than 100 metres (330 feet) deep.
Navy commander Gouveia Melo said the vessel would not be raised as it was in deep enough water so as to not pose a threat to maritime traffic and was not carrying hazardous material.
A Portuguese air force helicopter and three navy vessels were searching the area for containers which escaped from the ship as it sank.
Tugs have collected a number of the 34 containers which were onboard the Nautilus when it went down and which were floating in the water.
{{/usCountry}}Tugs have collected a number of the 34 containers which were onboard the Nautilus when it went down and which were floating in the water.
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