Viking Kvasir Collided With Another Ship On The Rhine Near Germany’s Wesel

The Viking Kvasir reportedly collided with another vessel on 11 September morning on the Rhine River near Germany’s Wesel. The accident occurred during the river cruise vessel’s Antwerpen to Amsterdam low-country cruise.

A couple of passengers and many crew members sustained some minor injuries. This information was gathered from a passenger on the vessel who wishes to be anonymous:

The first officer was piloting the Viking on the morning of the accident in heavy fog, and there was another ship/barge sideways (as one can see from the photo taken from one of the balconies) on the Rhine that the ship hit. It was at about 6:50 a.m. in Wesel, Germany time. Most passengers remained in bed and could feel the vessel’s engines in complete reverse for three to five seconds, followed by a massive crash and the sounds of breaking glass in their rooms.

After things began settling down, in the lounge, they conducted a ship-wide meeting, and the Hotel Manager mentioned that it was the fault of the other ship and that the Viking ship had a video of it.

Luckily, injuries were minimal — except for the pride of the first officer, per the anonymous passenger, who was overcome with emotions and was applauded by passengers for doing all that she could to minimize the impact and avert the collision. There was limited visibility, and shortly after the crash, passengers saw the other ship perpendicular to theirs and then vanished into the fog.

One of the crew members had to be taken to a doctor for burns (the chefs had been preparing breakfast).

Others had minor cuts (particularly from collecting broken glassware) in the staterooms. Some passengers suffered minor injuries as they were standing when the two ships collided.

The collision occurred approximately a mile from Viking’s private dock in Wesel. Damages were above the waterline, and the ship did not take any water. They removed the tarp that blanketed the Aquavit terrace’s glass roof and used it to cover the damages.

Breakfast and lunch facilities had to be cancelled because of the inadequacy of dishware. Morning excursions were conducted, and the ship is being resupplied and scheduled. There seems to be at least one Viking executive on board the vessel. He was not a crew member and was in a suit jacket with a Viking name tag.

There are a few police officers taking interviews with the First Officer and a port authority representative. The captain, alongside two land-based technicians, examines the damage’s extent.

References: Cruise Law News

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Source: Maritime Shipping News