zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Beyond Cars
/
Ship Knocks Containers Into River As It Sails Into Giant Red Bridge You Can't Miss
Ship Knocks Containers Into River As It Sails Into Giant Red Bridge You Can't Miss-August 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:14:01

The Willemsbrug, a bridge in the Dutch city of Rotterdam, was painted bright red when it was completed back in 1981. While it helps it stand out against the beautiful northern blue sky, it would also hopefully act as a literal red flag for ships to avoid, too, but a German barge just collided with it.

Shipping traffic on the Nieuwe Maas river has been severely limited by police after a German shipping barge collided with the Willemsbrug (yes, -brug) earlier today. Video of the collision shows the ship’s yellow containers colliding with the lower horizontal support of the bridge, and the local police report six containers were knocked into the water.

(The suffix “-brug” seems to mean “bridge,” and the Willemsbrug is also commonly known as the “Willems bridge,” named for King Willem III of the Netherlands. Therefore, while there are references in English reports referring to the span as the “Willemsbrug bridge,” this is probably like saying the “Willem’s bridge bridge.”)

The collision occurred on the river between the Willemsbrug and the Erasmus bridge. The area is located just in-river from Rotterdam port, claimed to be Europe’s biggest port, disrupting operations to the east. The port’s western seaside operations were not affected. The ship involved was the German freighter , according to data collected by .

While traffic over the bridge was almost immediately suspended following the incident, the bridge does not seem to be severely damaged. The barge remained under the bridge throughout the day as recovery operations for the six fumbled shipping containers were rushed, likely to try to get them up before sunset and to get the port’s eastern operations back in full swing.

reports nobody was injured in the collision, and that some pieces were left hanging down from the Willems. It also reports the shipping containers were supposedly empty, and that at least three had been fully recovered from the water.

The charter company for the barge reportedly commented that it was waiting for a full meeting with the ship’s skipper before proceeding with an announcement. Whatever they’re going to talk about, it’s very clear that the barge was overloaded, and likely one stack too high for any bridge on the river to its destination.

I bet if commercial shipping crews are anything like American teenagers, it’s probably pretty embarrassing to crash your boat into the giant red bridge next to the busiest port in Europe, in front of all your friends. That’s probably punishment enough for whoever they do end up blaming.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Beyond Cars
Aircraft Touch Tips During Blizzard At Japanese Airport
Aircraft Touch Tips During Blizzard At Japanese Airport
As at , its port side wing the starboard vertical stabilizer of bound for Hong Kong. This comes at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, and . “Our aircraft, which was stationary at the time with no customers nor crew onboard, was struck by a Korean Air A330 which was taxiing past,”...
Aug 15, 2025
Deadliest Train In America Kills 3 People In 2 Separate Collisions At The Same Crossing
Deadliest Train In America Kills 3 People In 2 Separate Collisions At The Same Crossing
operate between Orlando and Miami and hold the unwelcome distinction of being both the first intra-city high speed rail in the U.S. and the , by far. After three people died at a single grade crossing in two separate incidents last week it seems the feds are finally perking...
Aug 15, 2025
2023 Zero DSR/X: The Bike Of The Future, But Not Our Future
2023 Zero DSR/X: The Bike Of The Future, But Not Our Future
The world, in 2023, is cyberpunk. We’ve got the , the , and the that keeps the and the . But in cyberpunk media, people are always riding . Why are we stuck with the same bikes we’ve always had? , it seems, wants to address this grievous wrong....
Aug 15, 2025
String Of Boeing Failures Continues With 737-800 Flight Turning Back With Cracked Cockpit Windshield
String Of Boeing Failures Continues With 737-800 Flight Turning Back With Cracked Cockpit Windshield
In the wake of recent major , including , , and the debacle that was , it isn’t a good time for further failures by the company. that would , an unrelated 737-800 with a cracked windshield, became international news this weekend. The flight took off from Sapporo-New Chitose...
Aug 15, 2025
Marshmallow Treats Ended Up On The Royal Air Force's No-Fly List
Marshmallow Treats Ended Up On The Royal Air Force's No-Fly List
Over in the United Kingdom, there’s a certain dessert known as a “teacake” — or, as a British friend kindly informed me, it’s more accurately known as a “Tunnock” in Scotland. Basically, the food in question for this particular story are actually a cookie base topped with marshmallow, coated...
Aug 15, 2025
Crystal Chunks Are Bursting Through The Road In China
Crystal Chunks Are Bursting Through The Road In China
A video of what looks like quartz breaking through the surface of a is making the rounds on . I don’t get over there much, being suspicious of the Chinese over concerns of it spying on its users, as the reports. OK, fine. Actually, I just don’t get the humor...
Aug 15, 2025
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved