Adrift UHL Freedom ship leaves five injured off Dutch island Schiermonnikoog

What happened

On Sunday, 25 October 2026, a ship north of the Dutch island of Schiermonnikoog lost its anchor and began drifting, according to the Royal Netherlands Sea Rescue Institution (KNRM). Five people on board were reported injured. The first reports did not explain how the injuries happened or what the condition of the injured is.

The Coast Guard placed the vessel roughly 29 kilometres north of Schiermonnikoog. Reports describe the ship as drifting in an open stretch of the North Sea, which is where the rescue effort is focused.

The vessel

NOS names the ship as the UHL Freedom, which sails under the Portuguese flag and is almost 150 metres long. NOS describes it as a tanker in some reports and as a cargo ship in another, while 7sur7 and Trouw call it a cargo ship. The Coast Guard said 25 crew members were aboard, and five of them were injured.

The vessel was in anchorage area 9, which Trouw describes as a maritime waiting point where ships can lie at anchor. According to the Coast Guard, the anchor was dragging across the seabed, meaning it no longer held and was slowly being pulled along, which caused the ship to drift.

Crew aboard25

Injured5

Crew aboard

25 people

Injured

5 people

Data from the article text

Weather and sea conditions

Wind force was 9 at the location where the ship was drifting. NOS reported waves of more than four metres, while the news agency ANP put them at 4.5 metres. Gelderlander described the waves as a little over four and a half metres high.

Rescue operation

Three KNRM lifeboats were sent from Eemshaven, Schiermonnikoog and Ameland, according to a KNRM spokesperson cited by NOS. Two German lifeboats, from Borkum and Hamburg, were also called in to help. The Coast Guard deployed a tug and a helicopter, and the helicopter lowered a SAR nurse (an ambulance nurse) onto the ship. Rescue services were trying to bring the injured off the vessel, according to Gelderlander.

What is still unknown

The articles do not yet say how the five people were hurt or what their condition is. The reports also do not say whether the ship itself was damaged or how the drift will end.