Container Ship Damages Lock Gates

A container ship has damaged lock gates on the Kiel Canal so badly that the system has all but ground to a halt.

The JORK RELIANCE, a new container ship that was delivered from Damen Shipyards in March of this year, inexplicably collided with a lock gate yesterday and buckled it.

Ships have banked up on the canal and at entrances as the system partly as a result of cutbacks to maintenance teams made recently, which means no emergency repair work could be carried out on a Sunday.

The ship herself suffered some damage but was able to continue on her way.