Debris on the Rhine! ‘Fritz Middelanis’ ferry expected to suspend services until 16 January

The immense rainfall of recent days has resulted in a rapid rise in the water level of the Rhine. This has also caused the river to carry a larger volume of debris. Owing to a blanket of trees, plant residue and waste that has washed ashore at the mooring in Leverkusen, the ‘Fritz Middelanis’ Rhine ferry has had to temporarily suspend services. This is now expected to continue until Monday 16 January 2023.

Outside its operating hours, the ‘Fritz Middelanis’ will be moored on the right bank of the Rhine on the dock at Leverkusen-Hitdorf. “This is also a new situation for our personnel. When the ferry pilot on duty wanted to start his morning shift today at 05:30, the boat was completely surrounded by debris. He tried to get the ferry free, but this proved impossible. Further attempts could have caused damage to the propulsion system,” says Norbert Di Raimondo, Managing Director of Rheinfähre Köln-Langel / Hitdorf GmbH.

Since it is unlikely that the debris will be cleared by the river current alone, a special ship of the ‘Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration’ (WSV) will have to be requested to remove it. However, further large volumes of debris are expected to arrive from the tributaries of the Rhine, for example the Ahr, and so this ship is not available in the Cologne area at the moment. “We are doing all we can to get the Fritz Middelanis free and resume service quickly. Then we must decide what the overall situation looks like on the river. The safety of our passengers, the crew and the vehicles onboard has the utmost priority,” says Norbert DiRaimondo.

Ferry passengers can find out from a traffic light symbol on the homepage of the www.hgk.de website whether the ferry is currently operating.