Main-Danube-Canal closed for 2 or 3 weeks after accident

[glovedirk]

10 minutes ago, Sandikal said:

 

It wasn't the Viking Idi.

 

My husband and I just got back from the Cities of Light cruise on the Idi. We were supposed to board in Nuremburg on the 7th, but boarded in Reidenburg (?) instead. They told us when boarded that the lock was damaged and we couldn't cruise the Main and Moselle. Instead, the gave us the option of leaving the cruise or sailing the Danube. They made up a whole itinerary for us on the fly and it was so much fun. They really went out of their way to make up for the change and I think we ended up with a better experience than we would have with the cruise we booked. They even flew us all on a charter plane from Vienna to Paris. 

 

I know they used the charter they flew us on to take the passengers for the Paris to Prague cruise to Vienna to do the same itinerary we did. I don't know what they'll do for the other bookings.

You were suppose to board in Nuremberg on the 7th when and where my cruise on the Var (and the sister ship Idi) were supposed to end. ended.  But they couldn’t get there.  That is why you boarded in Reidenberg.  

[Sandikal]

36 minutes ago, glovedirk said:

You were suppose to board in Nuremberg on the 7th when and where my cruise on the Var (and the sister ship Idi) were supposed to end. ended.  But they couldn’t get there.  That is why you boarded in Reidenberg.  

 

That's right. The Idi couldn't get to Nuremberg. Our next stop would have been Bamburg, but we went to Regensburg instead. We also went to Passau, Krems, Vienna, and Bratislava. All in all, we had a better itinerary. We only lost the one day that we spent getting to Paris. We were supposed to go by bus from Trier and stop in Luxembourg, but we spent it at airports instead.

 

 

[notamermaid]

Update on the traffic jam. As of this morning 108 ships were waiting, 36 of those were river cruise ships: https://www.nordbayern.de/region/auf-dem-main-donau-kanal-geht-nichts-mehr-108-schiffe-sitzen-fest-1.9014309

Have a look at the photo gallery (where it says Bilderstrecke click on a photo).

 

One barge captain interviewed says he is making a loss of 1.900 euros a day.

 

ELWIS now says opening is scheduled for 19 June 1600 hours.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[Daisi]

I really feel for the barges & other business ships lined up...this is their day to day living that has been put on hold.  While most river cruise companies can ship swap and continue serving & working with customers, they are stuck.  Would they be able to get any compensation for this?  I don't know EU law to know if it's possible to file a claim.  After last summer where they couldn't run, this could really hurt.  I hope they get priority once the lock is opened.

[notamermaid]

Good news!

 

According to ELWIS the lock was reopened at 1.30pm local time.

 

I wonder if the concrete had set more quickly in this heat than they had estimated?

 

The captain of that ship is getting the appropriate spanking in the shape of a fine most likely (as of Monday the accident was still under investigation).

 

The engineers and workmen who, according to one German report worked one evening until 11 at night, are getting a big thank you from me (not so important) and I am sure from many, many people on the canal (important). They really did well to finish this on schedule.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[notamermaid]

So, all is well on the canal - when the backlog has been cleared...

 

If it had not worked by today, they could have used a tractor to relocate the ships :

 

A small boat was transported by road to the canal the other day, a wide load which caused a few headaches: would the boat fit around all the bends? It did!

 

Taken from the article: https://www.donaukurier.de/lokales/hilpoltstein/DKmobil-Hausboot-rollt-durch-Hilpoltstein;art596,4221712

 

Here is the article confirming the reopening: https://www.donaukurier.de/lokales/hilpoltstein/DKmobil-Schleuse-Riedenburg-geht-wieder-in-Betrieb;art596,4222938

 

The final count for ships having been stranded was 115.

 

Happy sailing everyone.

 

notamermaid

 

[KevinandSally]

The lock is now open.

[fiyahflash]

I was on an Avalon river cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam when this happened. We did our Nuremberg day tour via bus and at the end of the day were given the bad news that we could either cancel the rest of the trip or continue as a bus/hotel tour. I continued on and I can't fault Avalon at all for the way they handled everything.

 

Yes it was sad to leave the ship and have to pack up a suitcase every night and we missed the Main and Rhine rivers (though we were able to sail part of the Rhine past castles on the hill on a public ferry)

 

[notamermaid]

14 hours ago, fiyahflash said:

I was on an Avalon river cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam when this happened. We did our Nuremberg day tour via bus and at the end of the day were given the bad news that we could either cancel the rest of the trip or continue as a bus/hotel tour. I continued on and I can't fault Avalon at all for the way they handled everything.

 

Yes it was sad to leave the ship and have to pack up a suitcase every night and we missed the Main and Rhine rivers (though we were able to sail part of the Rhine past castles on the hill on a public ferry)

 

Sorry to hear that. I am glad Avalon was able to organize a continuation as a coach with hotel so that passengers had the choice to go home early or stay on. I am impressed that they were able to get space on an excursion boat to take you through the Rhine gorge past all the castles, very nice. Those boats are busy at this time of year.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[notamermaid]

The backlog has been cleared - I hope fully - and traffic should have returned to normal now. The final article on this (quite probably), from 20 June, when the lock was still trying to cope with the jam: https://www.nordbayern.de/region/main-donau-kanal-viele-schiffe-noch-in-der-warteschleife-1.9022260

 

A few figures from the article: in the end 129 ships were queuing up, the local federal hydrology people worked for 14 days with the help of eight external companies, they expected to be able to clear the backlog within three days by doubling the workforce operating the lock. Every locking manouevre takes at least 30 minutes.

 

The repair costs exceed 100,000 euros which will be billed to the ship operator/owner.

 

Other costs that might have resulted with third parties or losses incurred by them could be put to the ship operator/owner, that is up to the discretion of those third parties.

 

By the way, as at 20 June it was not clear yet what may have caused the accident. There was no alcohol involved. Data from the ship still needed to be evaluated.

 

notamermaid