Double repair job after Kiel Canal accident

The accident happened after the 88m, 3,800 ton Panama flag Else sailed into the canal from the Kiel Fiord apparently without first taking on a required pilot. It then ploughed into the outer Nodkammer lock gate of the Kiel-Holtenau lock complex.

Officials closed down the 310m lock (Nordkammer) and switched big ship canal traffic to the parallel South Lock. Tugs floated out the damaged North Lock gate, weighing more than 1,000 tons, after divers found that its buoyancy tanks had not been ruptured in the collision.

A reserve gate was installed during a large-scale operation which involved divers, a diving barge and heavy lift equipment. Also involved were the crane-ship newbuilding Griep To 2, the multi-purpose workboat Saatsee and the launch Regenpfeiffer 2.

Canal officials first thought it would cost about €1 million to repair the damaged lock gate but later reports suggested the bill might be as much as twice that. As this report went to press however, Claudia Thoma, spokeswoman for the Waterways and Shipping Administration (WSV) which operates the canal, told Maritime Journal the gate was still being examined locally and repair costs had not been finally assessed.

The 27-year old Else, extracted from the damaged gate by two tugs, was taken to repair specialist Lindenau Schiffswerft, which is right next to the Canal entrance, for bulbous bow and associated repairs and has in the meantime left the area. The causes of the accident were however still under investigation.

The incident is reminiscent of an even more spectacular collision in February 2018 when another lock gate at the Holtenau complex was practically cut in two by the13,713gt container feeder ship Akacia. After assessment at German Naval Yards Kiel, the decision to repair rather than scrap and build new was taken last year and Claudia Thoma told this correspondent the work was still underway at Nobiskrug Werft in Rendsburg for completion in 2021. She said repairs were expected to cost more than €10 million but other reports have suggested the costs could be much higher than that.