Vessels Trapped on Saar and Moselle Freed So That Lock Repairs Can Begin

The Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration reported that as of today all the vessels that had been trapped on the Saar in France and the Moselle in Germany above the lock at Müden, Germany have now been freed. They were able to complete this phase of the recovery effort ahead of schedule and now believe they will be able to reopen the lock by the beginning of February more than a month ahead of the previously announced timeline.

A total of 78 emergency lock operations were carried out in 10 days with a total of 72 vessels that had been stuck along the rivers cleared to continue their journeys. WSA reports it was a Herculean task that required cooperation and coordination.  

The lock gates were destroyed when a ship failed to stop during a locking operation on December 8. A temporary solution to free the trapped vessels was worked out, but it required manually placing for each locking operation the removable dam beams which are normally only used to seal and drain the lock chamber for maintenance. 

It required 192 hours of continuous operation in all weather conditions with the first vessel passing through the lock on December 16. The beams with the help of a crane were placed over 1,000 times and chain hooks were attacked over 4,000 times. Divers had to enter the chamber 1,840 times to hook the chains into the eyelets.

After eight days, the WSA reports a total of 70 ships had passed through the lock. The final two vessels had scheduled their transit for today, December 27. A small passenger ship, Sunisha arrived at the lock around 0800 local time and when the fog lifted it made the transit. Three hours later a river cargo vessel Tunica became the last to leave the lock. No vessels had been able to use the lock to enter Luxembourg and France since the accident.

“At the moment, the Saar and the German Moselle are completely empty of cargo ships, tankers, or passenger ships,” WSA reported today. Only a few ships which spend the winter on the rivers remain.

The lock is now closed with the beams to be set into place and the chamber drained. Scaffolding will be required, and the concrete will be sandblasted. Two new sealing strips, each measuring 12 meters, had to be fabricated and installed, and new concrete poured to repair the damage. Two gate frames that were manufactured in 2005 need to be prepared and panels installed plus four new neck bearing blocks also have to be manufactured. The timeline now calls for moving all the components to the lock at Müden on January 15 and then starting to reassemble the operation.

The lock is now closed until the repairs can be completed. Steelmaker ArcelorMittal with operations in Luxembourg was forced to plan alternate routes to move its material. The authorities in Luxembourg worked with the company to temporarily change rules for the transit of heavy goods by road.

The Müden lock provides a vital link for the movement of goods, fuel, and passengers coming from the Rhine and traveling into Western Germany, Luxembourg, and France.