A container ship collided with the Ring Bridge on the Brussels-Scheldt Canal in Tisselt in the late evening of Monday 8 May. A truck could not avoid a raised part of the bridge. Two containers from the vessel ended up in the water.
A container ship with destination the Insteekdok along the Zeekanaal in Vilvoorde, collided with the Ring Bridge for unknown reasons. In the process, part of the bridge came up. A truck that was passing at the time crashed into the bridge section. The driver sustained minor injuries.
Containers
In the collision, two empty containers fell from the ship into the water. These were fished out of the water with a crane and placed back on the ship. The ship got out from under the bridge under its own power and continued on its way to the Insteek dock.
No damage
During Tuesday morning, both traffic on the bridge and shipping traffic could be released again. According to The Flemish Waterway, an initial inspection had shown that the bridge had not suffered any damage. “In the course of the day, a second, more thorough inspection will take place to make sure that there is effectively no damage,” it said. Road traffic may be inconvenienced for a short time as a result,” said Carolien Peelaerts of De Vlaamse Waterweg.
At the end of December, a container ship also collided with the Europa bridge in Vilvoorde, and not long afterwards the Buda bridge in the port of Brussels was also badly damaged by a collision with a barge.
