Due to flooding on the Danube, caused by heavy rain, 102 passengers and 40 crew members on board the Swiss river cruise ship “Thurgau Prestige” have to remain in Vienna. Shipping also came to a standstill for many other ships.
A Thurgau Travel cruise ship originally scheduled for Budapest had to break its journey in Vienna. Instead, passengers found themselves in the Austrian capital, where other ships were also stranded. Passengers and crew cannot leave the ship because the walkway to the pier is flooded.
Several cruise ships “stranded” in Vienna
The unexpected situation affected several river cruise ships that were stranded in Vienna due to the circumstances. The Linzer Donau Touristik river cruise ship “MS Primadonna” is currently “in the middle of a trip” in Linz. “We are offering passengers a replacement program in Upper Austria and are waiting to see how the situation develops,” says marketing manager Claudia Reiter. Overnight stays are possible on the ship. It is assumed that the arrival of the next guests will take place “normally” in four to five days.
Expected relaxation on Tuesday
The Danube is partially closed to shipping due to the flooding and water traffic has come to a standstill from the border between Upper Austria and Lower Austria. “Most ships are in ports, a few at the piers,” says Birgit Brandner-Wallner of the Danube stations, which operate 36 piers from Linz to Budapest. An easing of the tension can be expected on Tuesday.
Freight traffic in the Port of Vienna is currently at a standstill. According to Dieter Pietschmann from the Port of Vienna, “the harbor basins of Albern and Freudenau are currently not in operation.” There are currently no freighters in or in front of these basins or in the oil port of Lobau “have clearly adapted to the weather conditions,” Pietschmann explains.
In such cases, freight forwarders usually switch to trucks or rail. For the port of Vienna itself, it makes no economic difference which transport route is chosen. However, preference is usually given to heavy goods in particular, but also bulk and grit for transport by ship. “We will only see a statistical decline in ship handling in the period from 14 to 16 September,” predicts Pietschmann.
Source: Krone
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