Operation of the Fritz Middelanis Rhine ferry temporarily suspended

On the afternoon of 5 December 2023, the ferry's steering suddenly failed on its way from Cologne-Langel to Leverkusen-Hitdorf. There were four passengers and two crew members on board at the time. The ferry captain on duty acted immediately, dropping both anchors in the middle of the river and making an emergency call. The captain of a passing ship then stopped and also stabilised the ferry.

After the alarm was raised, the Leverkusen and Cologne fire brigades and the waterway police were immediately deployed. A Currenta ship from the Leverkusen Chempark was also called in. In the meantime, the passengers were looked after by the crew and then taken on board the Currenta ship, which had turned alongside. The captain of the freighter then towed the Fritz Middelanis to the Niehl harbour, which he had intended to head for anyway. There, on the morning of 6 December, the two cars on board were lifted ashore with the help of a crane.

"We are very pleased that nobody was injured in the incident. Thanks to the level-headed actions of the crew, there was no danger to the passengers at any time. We are very sorry that our passengers had to experience this situation," explains Norbert Di Raimondo, Managing Director of "Rheinfähre Köln-Langel / Hitdorf GmbH".

It is unclear how long the ferry will now be out of service. "We are expecting a longer outage. We will initially engage an external expert. This expert will determine the cause of the incident and check what measures are necessary to ensure that the ferry can be operated safely again," says Di Raimondo, "the safety of passengers and staff has absolute priority!"

The ferry's operational capability has been independently inspected on a regular basis in the past. To ensure that the ferry is maintained as an important means of crossing the Rhine, particularly in view of the construction of the new A1 bridge, the shareholders, the City of Leverkusen and HGK AG, jointly invest around EUR 300,000 annually in the operation of the Rhine ferry Köln-Langel / Hitdorf GmbH.