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| The Tricolor just prior to the accident, capable of stowing 5,830 vehicles. |
The majority of Tricolor's crew was rescued by a nearby tugboat and taken to hospital in the French port of Dunkirk, while the car carrier's captain and two of its officers were taken to the Belgian port of Antwerp on the Kariba. A Dover Coastguard spokesperson stated a Belgian warship, the Wandelaar, was able to assist French coastguards in dealing with the incident's aftermath. Also a UK coastguard emergency towing vessel was deployed to the scene, plus with other tugs.
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| The accident took place close to one of busiest intersections of the world's waterways, within the English Channel. |
The accident's location, approximately 48 km (30 miles) east of Ramsgate, Kent, England, is apparently close to one of the busiest shipping bottlenecks in the world's oceans, which should have meant both captains would have been on especially sharp guard. That said the two ships hit each other with such force that it may be that the captains were not showing as much caution as they could have been, considering the thick fog. The Tricolor, at 45,171 gross tonnes (49,792 gross tons) and 191 m (627 ft) long, and the Kariba at 18,896 gross tonnes (20,829 gross tons) and 176 m (578 ft) long, are not capable of short stopping distances or quick maneuverability at any speed.