term and devastating effect" on marine life on the sea floor and on the water surface. All 22 crew from the two ships were airlifted to safety after the collision Monday between the Ece and the Maltese-registered Polish freighter General Grot-Rowecki. A one-mile exclusion zone with warning signs pointing out the wreckage has been imposed by the French maritime authorities. The side-on collision occurred outside the traffic separation scheme, a stretch of water in the middle of the Channel, which allows for the separation of ships in two lanes travelling north-east and south-west. About 500 vessels every day pass through the Channel, one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. --SP 22 38 Local Time 19 38 GMT
