Wurzburg – It could have ended badly! On Friday evening, a container ship went detached on the Main in Würzburg and almost caused a disaster.
The container ship ended up on the Main and threatened to collide with the restaurant ship “Mainkuh”. © NEWS5/Höfig
As a speaker of fire fighters reported the evening before Christmas Eve, the fire brigade was ordered around 5.30 pm to the accident site between the old main bridge and the lion bridge below the Marienberg fortress. There the approximately 110 meter long cargo ship had already crossed the Main.
While the ship’s bow was already hitting the lock area of the Old Main Bridge, the stern of the unwieldy craft threatened to collide with the restaurant ship “Mainkuh”, which was permanently moored at the Mainkai.
As a result, the container ship was secured on both sides with ropes against further movement. However, the water pressure existing along the entire length of the vessel made rescue extremely difficult.
Emergency call for no good reason: German firefighters complain of ‘huge problem’
Around 150 emergency services from the fire brigade, the rescue service, the technical rescue organization (THW) and the Würzburg police are currently on duty to keep the situation under control. The “Mainkuh” Chinese restaurant has been completely evacuated for safety reasons.
Luckily no one was injured in Friday night’s crash. The Main was initially closed to shipping on the affected section.
In order to recover the container loaded with around 2,000 tons of asphalt granulate as quickly as possible, a suitable tug was ordered on site. A fire brigade spokesman could not provide any precise information on how long the operation could continue.
Further police investigations should reveal why the exceptional situation on the Main had arisen.
