Video: German Authorities Respond to Inland Vessel Wedged Under a Bridge
The fire department in the western city of Neuss, Germany, near Düsseldorf, responded to a callout on Tuesday morning, March 24, that said an inland cargo ship had become wedged under one of the city’s bridges. Arriving at the scene, the first responders confirmed the report, finding the vessel stuck after several containers had gone overboard and others were teetering.
The unidentified vessel was sailing on the Rhine River transporting containers and had several cars aboard. It struck one of the railway bridges crossing the river and became wedged under the span.
The Neuss Fire Department reports it found two containers in the river and several more while still aboard the vessel that had been displaced. There were no injuries, but both the river and bridge were closed during the rescue operation.
A crane boat was brought in from Düsseldorf, and the fire department reports it was determined that the best way to address the situation was to raise the lift portion of the bridge. However, as the lift mechanism was activated and the roadbed began to rise, two additional containers fell into the river. The fire department called it a controlled event. The crane boat was used to recover the containers from the river, and the vessel was repositioned. The containers were empties.
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The salvage operation took about six hours to complete.
It was not the first time the fire department had to manage a vessel – bridge allision. In September 2024, a 110-meter (361-foot) inland containership hit a bridge on the Rhine River. It said that due to the impact, the vessel had begun taking on water after several welds in the double hull ruptured. The fire department had to shovel some of the rubble cargo to reach the leaks so that they could be plugged. The vessel had to be towed away.
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