Rhine river blocked after a barge accident

The Rhine is blocked for traffic between Cologne-Porz and Cologne-Niehl after a barge drew water on Sunday (25 March 2007), threatening to capsize. The containers began to slip, the captain attempted to stop and anchor the barge and lost 32 containers in the procedure, some of them loaded with chemicals and industrial strength glue. 17 of them beached several kilometers downstream while 15 sank – right in the middle of the navigation channel. One of the containers was damaged and tannic acid has been leaking into the Rhine.

Divers are locating the containers and salvaging them one by one which involves setting up large metal screens to divert the current so the divers can fasten the tackle to the containers and cranes can heave the obstacles out of the water.

The police are investigating the accident and assume that a crack or tear in the hull caused the ship to draw water. Human error is being ruled out at the moment as the captain was absolutely sober and in no way incapacitated. Up through this morning 50 freight barges are docked, waiting for the channel to be cleared so that they can continue their journey. Authorities are expecting to have this accomplished by Friday.

Further source: Süddeutsche Zeitung e-paper, 28.Mar.2007

Huh? IMHO a human can make an error without being drunk...

Remember that statistic that 20% of all road accidents are caused by drunken drivers.
Thus 80% are caused by sober ones!!! (or whatever the correct percentage is).

Is Rhine traffic otherwise normal? I have some visitors from the States coming and a couple of them wanted to go to Bingen to do a castle-seeing boat trip...

Correction. There are around 400 barges waiting for things to be cleared.

@Ruthie: Bingen is ok, it's just around Cologne.
@Jack: Süddeutsche Zeitung should update its article!

That sounded kind of smart assed didn't it? I just realised that, sorry.

Jebus, not at all! 50 seemed a bit low to me when I read it, but the SZ is read more religiously than the Bible at my place.

The Rhine has been reopened for traffic.

http://www.general-anzeiger-bonn.de/index...p;detailid=9006

Yeaah!!! Time to get my barge out.