The cargo ship about 110 meters long, which had passed through the Würzburg lock, was pulled off the fairway by a powerful tug. According to the Bureau of Water and Shipping, the shipping ban will be lifted around 4:30pm.
Some inland vessels had to stop
Due to the shipping ban, some inland vessels from the Rhine to the Danube and vice versa had to stop. As the BR discovered, there was also a hotel ship that was bound for Vienna.
Several rescue attempts were unsuccessful. It was only when the restaurant ship ‘Mainkuh’ was moved slightly that the cargo ship could be turned and towed against the current. In the direction of flow, the restaurant ship is located directly behind the damaged cargo ship. Martina Michel of the Main Waterways and Shipping Office, on the outskirts of Marktbreit, told Bayerischer Rundfunk that the stronger current and rising water level made rescue operations more difficult. According to Michel, the cargo ship had become wedged. The damaged vessel was towed ashore, moored there and is now being examined for damage.
The cause is probably a driving error by the skipper
According to the Lower Franconian police headquarters, the cargo ship, which had loaded more than 2,700 tons of asphalt granulate, was traveling downstream on the Main around 4 pm on Friday. At the helm was a 35-year-old skipper. Shortly after the Ludwigsbrücke, a near collision occurred with an oncoming motorized freight ship.
Subsequently, according to the police, the cargo ship crossed the flow direction shortly before the lock under Marienberg Fortress due to another steering error, rammed the dividing weir of the lock with the forecastle, wedged and threatened with the floating and moored “Mainkuh” in the Main, in which got caught there is also a playroom. The people who were in the restaurant at the time were evacuated by the police. The old main bridge was also briefly closed to pedestrians. The Würzburg water protection police took over the investigation.
With information from dpa
