A MAN is missing feared drowned after Southampton-based steamship Shieldhall collided with a tug in the Netherlands.

The Dutch captain of the tug is believed to have been killed in the incident, which took place last Thursday.

Shieldhall, with a crew of about 22 people, was being towed along the River Maas when the vessels collided, sinking the tug.

Dutch water police are investigating what happened, as Shieldhall headed to a shipping festival at Dordrecht.

No one on the Shieldhall was hurt and the ship suffered minimal damage.

It is the first fatal incident that it has been involved with since it moved to Southampton to be restored in the 1980s.

Divers have located the sunken tug but the search is continuing for the missing man.

A crewman on the Shieldhall, when contacted by the Daily Echo, declined to comment. "We are not saying anything.

"We are waiting for the end of the inquiry," he said.

Richard Batten, a volunteer with the Solent Steam Packet Ltd, that operates the ship from Southampton Docks, said: "This is a shock. It's not something you want to hear."

Mr Batten, of Sholing Road, Woolston, Southampton, added: "I've been told there was a pilot on board and the ship was being pulled by a tug.

"The propeller came off the tug and the Shieldhall rolled it over. The ship was almost stationary, doing three knots. Most of the crew escaped except for the skipper.

"The Dutch authorities are getting upset about it and we've heard the ship was being held and not allowed to leave."

A spokesman for the Department of Transport said the Marine Accident Investigation branch had been told of the tragedy. Shieldhall was built in 1955 to carry out the task of dumping treated sewage from Glasgow at sea.

She is now maintained by a band of loyal supporters, who take her on tourism trips to capture the experience of travelling on an old steamship. The 1,792-ton steamship is also a television and cinema favourite, appearing in Casualty and Lovejoy, while Paramount Pictures used her in the film Angela's Ashes.