Kiel Canal: ships crash into each other – three sailors injured

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Ships crash into each other on the Kiel Canal – three sailors injured

This article first appeared on RTL.de.

Two ships collided on the Kiel Canal, injuring three people. The ships are no longer manoeuvrable, so tugs have to transport the damaged ships towards Kiel. The important lake road has to be closed in the meantime. The fire brigade is on site with a large contingent.

Nothing worked on the Kiel Canal anymore

The two ships, which are about one hundred meters long, collided head-on almost exactly under the Levensau high bridge a few kilometers from Kiel: “We cannot yet say exactly why the accident happened. Since the ships are no longer manoeuvrable, we must now to Kiel with tugboats,” explains the spokesman for the Waterways and Shipping Authority (WSA) Kiel Canal Jörg Brockmann in an interview with RTL Nord. The traffic from both the direction of Kiel and the direction of Brunsbüttel has meanwhile been stopped.

Fire brigade with large contingent on site

The professional fire brigade from Kiel with the support of the voluntary fire brigades from Suchsdorf and Friedsrichsort were on site with a total of 50 emergency services. With the help of the water rescue they secured the scene of the accident. “A drone was also used to get a better overview of the scene of the accident,” says Sarah Hoffmann, spokeswoman for the Kiel fire brigade, describing the situation on site in an interview with RTL Nord.

“Three people were rescued from the ships and taken to the hospital in an ambulance,” said Hoffmann. Nothing was known about the severity of the injuries. “The ships are the ships ‘Paivi’ and ‘Bjoerkoe’, both of which were badly damaged. They will now be brought to the north port, where the operation will continue.”

Nils Fischer/jus