Moselle free for ship traffic again after collision

After the ship collision at a bottleneck in the Moselle, the river was reopened to ship traffic on Saturday evening. The wrecked goods motor ship was towed free after partial unloading of the cargo, said the water police.

Around 600 tons of cargo were transferred to a crane ship using a crane. After an assessment by the competent authority, the ship was able to continue its voyage. The Moselle navigation block was lifted at 9:00 p.m.

The goods motor ship collided with a passenger cabin ship near Briedern on Friday evening. The freighter went off course and rammed a quay wall. The hotel ship remained unharmed in the collision and was able to continue its journey.

A car on the adjacent federal highway 49 was damaged when it drove over fallen rocks. No one was injured in the chain accident that involved traffic routes, the police said. The cargo ship loaded with 2990 tons of ore and the quay wall were "considerably damaged".

The freighter got stuck at the bottom of the river and was uncovered on Saturday night, a police spokesman said. Until then, the Moselle was not navigable near Briedern (Cochem-Zell district).

The police could not give any information about the extent of the damage. The water police began investigations into the cause of the accident.