Ship collides with bridge: Wesel-Datteln Canal blocked

Accident site in Dorsten

A pushed convoy on the Wesel-Datteln Canal hit a road bridge on Thursday night for reasons that have not yet been clarified.

(Photo: dpa)

Dorsten After a ship loaded with coal collided with a bridge in Dorsten on the Wesel-Datteln Canal, the shipping lane in the north of the Ruhr area is still closed. First, the statics of the bridge must be examined, said a police spokesman in Duisburg on Thursday. The driver’s cab of the ship collided with the bridge on Thursday night. The helm was not lowered far enough.

The 42-year-old skipper was injured and taken to the hospital. A spokesman for the fire brigade in Dorsten said the driver’s cab had been completely demolished. “It was on the deck.”

The bridge, which is part of the federal highway 224 and an important traffic artery in Dorsten, is only passable out of town, the police said. According to the Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration, the canal is one of the most important and busiest shipping canals in Germany.

According to the police, the reason for blocking the canal for shipping is the unexplained statics of the bridge. This must be investigated. Supply lines ran under the building, said a police spokesman in Duisburg. However, these lines were not damaged. The wrecked ship is at anchor.

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The police are now investigating why the wheelhouse was not lowered. Since the pushed convoy came from the Rhine, which currently has a very low water level, the ship could have been lying high in the water due to the small amount of cargo. However, the low water level on the Rhine has no effect on the water level in the canal.

“The driver’s cab was completely destroyed,” said a spokesman for the water police in Duisburg. It was impossible for the ship to proceed. The Wesel-Datteln Canal connects the Rhine with the eastern Ruhr area.

More: Rhine level is sinking lower and lower: Bahn fails as a savior in the event of delivery bottlenecks

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