Inland Cargo Vessel Sinks Near Port of Antwerp

An inland freighter struck mooring bollards and sank near the port of Antwerp over the weekend, forcing the crew to abandon ship, according to Belgian media.

Overnight Friday, the cargo ship Sola Gratia was inbound for the port of Antwerp on the Scheldt, carrying a load of sand. Near the Royers Lock complex, it struck mooring bollards on the side of the river. The master told responders that the vessel had lost maneuverability, according to local outlet NT.

The master and the other crewmember aboard were rescued from the water by the fire brigade and handed off for medical evaluation. The vessel went down in the Scheldt and has begun leaking a small amount of petroleum; salvage plans are still being formulated, and cleanup contractors are engaged in mitigating the fuel spill.

The location of the wreck does not obstruct traffic for the port because the Royers Lock is currently down for service, and the port's operations were not disrupted. “The problems would have been greater if the Royers Lock had been in use, because many inland vessels pass through there to and from the port. But because that lock is out of use for an extended period due to expansion work, this was not an issue now,” Lennart Verstappen, spokesperson for the Port of Antwerp-Bruges, told GVA. Even if the complex had been open, large seagoing ships do not use the Royers Lock, only inland vessels.

The casualty follows a significant bunker fuel spill at Antwerp's Deurganckdok district on April 10, which spread to adjacent areas and caused disruption to shipping for the better part of a week. The Zandvliet and Berendecht locks (for larger vessels) had to be temporarily closed for containment. A large-scale cleanup effort was mounted and all affected terminals had reopened by Thursday.

Top image: Rene te Pas / VesselFinder