A Dutch motor cargo ship was damaged by an ice floe on the Mittelland Canal near Bülstringen in Saxony-Anhalt on 12 January. According to the waterway police, the skipper was about to dock when the alarm suddenly sounded in the engine room and water entered the ship.

The ingressing water could initially be pumped out of the ship using the ship's own leakage pumps. Nevertheless, the skipper made an emergency call. The alerted fire brigade found a leak in the hull below the waterline and provisionally sealed the damaged area. No one was injured in the incident.

According to initial findings, the damage could also have resulted in the leakage of operating materials such as oil or fuel. The police therefore initiated proceedings to investigate possible water pollution. In addition to the fire brigade and the waterway police, a representative of the Börde District Environmental Agency and the Waterways and Shipping Office were also deployed.

At 325 kilometres, the Mittelland Canal is Germany's longest artificial federal waterway and an important east-west connection in Europe. It connects the Dortmund-Ems Canal near Bergeshövede in North Rhine-Westphalia with the Elbe-Havel Canal near Hohenwarthe in Saxony-Anhalt.

kdk, World