An accidental death verdict has been recorded on two sailors who died suddenly on a ship off Dover.

The bodies of the two Ukranian men were recovered from the Sava Lake cargo vessel at Dover Western Docks on January 18 last year.

At an inquest in Ashford, coroner Rachel Redman heard that Oleg Babiienko, 32, and Sergiy Lozynski, 26, died within three minutes of going into a cargo hold that had been starved of oxygen.

The inquest heard a large storage of metal shavings in the hold had sucked in air, contributing to oxygen levels falling to around six per cent.

A post mortem examination confirmed the men had died from asphyxiation following the tragedy on the Latvian-registered ship on the Dover Strait.

Because the deaths happened within international waters the matter is out of British jurisdiction, but it continues to be investigated by the Latvian authorities.

Meanwhile the Marine Accident Investigation Branch has issued new safety guidelines on the carrying of hazardous cargo.