Vessel stuck on Elbe is afloat again

The 19,000 teu vessel aground on the river Elbe for over five days is afloat again after a successful attempt to free it by taking advantage of the high spring tide on February 9.

Following two failed attempts last week, five tugs dragged the China Shipping Container Lines (CSCL)’s Indian Ocean vessel into the navigation channel and towed it to the Port of Hamburg in an operation planned last week by Germany’s Central Command for Maritime Emergencies (CCME), which took over managing the incident, to take advantage of the full moon high tide.

The vessel, which was stranded on February 3 around 25 km ahead of the Port of Hamburg due to a technical failure, arrived at the port at 6.15am (CET) on February 9, following a 20-minute operation to drag the ship back into the navigation channel which began at about 2am (CET) and involved a total of 12 tugs.