Usti nad Labem, North Bohemia, Dec 28 (CTK) – The Czech cargo ship that got stuck under a bridge in the centre of Dresden, Germany, on Sunday, was freed this afternoon when the Labe (Elbe) River Basin Authority sent a wave along the river, Labe Basin operator Pavel Jansa has told CTK.
The 90-metre ship with a cargo weighing 1100 tonnes got stuck in Germany during its voyage to Decin, north Bohemia.
The Labe (Elbe) River Basin Authority sent a wave from Usti nad Labem that raised the river level. With the help of another vessel, the ship stuck was freed shortly after 16:00 CET when the wave reached Dresden. The distance between the two cities measures some 100 kilometres.
The wave was sent from the Strekov dam in Usti. The Strekov lake serves as a water reservoir for manipulating ships on the lower reaches of the Labe River.
The ship is operated by the Czech CSPL company.
CSPL director Milan Raba told CTK that the causes of the accident are not known as yet.
The German paper Saechsische Zeitung has written that the Labe level is extremely low after this year´s drought and that consequently, a number of ships have got stuck in the river this year.
