Schleswig Holstein
Software error triggers closure of the Kiel Canal
A container ship in early morning fog on the Kiel Canal under the Rendsburg High Bridge in early March 2022. Photo: Marcus Brandt/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
The Kiel Canal is a central shipping connection for the north. Now a software error has paralyzed traffic on the waterway.
A software problem paralyzed shipping on the Kiel Canal on Sunday. Both in Kiel and Brunsbüttel, no larger ships have been able to enter the canal since Sunday morning, as a spokesman for the water and shipping authority said on Sunday.
The “Kieler Nachrichten” had previously reported on it. “We had to interrupt traffic for safety reasons. The colleagues are trying everything to solve the problem as quickly as possible,” the newspaper quoted Detlef Wittmüß, head of the Waterways and Shipping Office for the Kiel Canal (WSA).
In Brunsbüttel, however, smaller ships could already be locked again in the early afternoon, in Kiel this should probably be possible again for smaller ships from around 4 p.m. in the afternoon, as the spokesman said. Normally about 70 to 80 ships used the Kiel Canal on Sundays.
In the middle of the week, new software for steering shipping on the artificial waterway was installed, the spokesman said. This initially worked without any problems. Problems arose on Sunday morning. As a result, the steering of large ships is no longer possible. However, ships that were already on the canal were allowed to leave it again. Technicians are working on solving the problem. How long that will take is unpredictable.