LAUWERSZEE

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Drifting ice breached barge

In the evening of March 1, 2018, the "Lauwerszee", 676 ts (EU-No.: 2103640), repeatedly suffered an electrical failure of the control computer while enroute from Oldenburg to Dörpen on the Coast Canal near Friesoythe. At 11.15 p.m. the 37 year old Dutch master then remarked, that there was development of suspected smoke which turned out to be steam which was caused by a massive water ingress in the generator room in the foreship and which also had caused short circuits of the ship's electronic before. He stopped and moored the ship at the canal shore, assisted by the alerted fire rescue and Technical Support Work (THW) which attended with 140 forces. Divers found a leak underneath the waterline.. During the salvage operations, the coastal canal and the parallel Federal Highway 401 had to be closed to traffic. The ship was loaded with 550 tons feed pallets and proceeded to the C-Port in Saterland near Sedelsberg after the situation was under control In the run of March 2 the whole cargo was unloaded there. According to initial investigations by the water police Meppen drift ice was responsible for the water ingress. The amount of damage was not yet known. The barge berthed at the Hofstede Sloopwerke in the Botlek in Rotterdam on March 4 at 5.45 p.m. German reports with photos and video: https://www.nwzonline.de/cloppenburg/blaulicht/friesoythe-unglueck-auf-dem-kuestenkanal-havariertes-schiff_a_50,1,15407216.html https://www.nwzonline.de/cloppenburg/blaulicht/friesoythe-grosseinsatz-in-friesoythe-schiff-geraet-auf-kuestenkanal-in-seenot_a_50,0,4291433948.html https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/niedersachsen/oldenburg_ostfriesland/Treibeis-Schiff-havariert-auf-Kuestenkanal,kuestenkanal130.html