A police investigation is under way after the death of a cargo ship captain whose vessel sank after colliding with a chemical tanker.

Sussex Police are working with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to decide if any criminal proceedings, such as a manslaughter charge, should be brought following the collision at 3.16pm yesterday.

It was confirmed today that the master of the Caribbean-registered bulk carrier the Ash, a man in his 50s who has not been named, died from hypothermia.

He was spotted clinging to a life raft 10 miles south of Hastings after the Ash sank following the collision with Dutch-registered tanker the Aquamarine, which was carrying a cargo of vinegar.

Five other crew members on board the Ash were rescued and were taken unharmed to Hastings by the town's lifeboat but no-one on the Aquamarine was harmed. It was sailing to Swansea today where it was to be inspected.

Mark Clark, spokesman for the MCA, said: "The investigation is now in three parts. Our enforcement unit is working on the incident with Sussex Police, given that a man has died and it is more serious.

"And the Marine Accident Investigation Branch is conducting its own inquiry into the causes of the crash."

Pollution experts returned to the scene of the collision today to assess whether more than 80 tonnes of diesel oil which leaked from the Ash posed a threat to the environment.

A team from Harwich was placing a buoy at the scene to warn other vessels of debris from the Ash, which was carrying 1,200 tonnes of steel rods.

Meanwhile, coastguard fixed-wing aircraft were again flying over the spot to assess the scale of the oil slick. The threat of pollution was today said to be minimal.