The lock at Lith will certainly remain closed for heavier shipping traffic for weeks. Rijkswaterstaat has announced this. The lock door was removed on Wednesday. He was damaged two weeks ago after it was rammed by a ship.
“The damaged lock door, which weighs no less than 45 tons, goes to a company in Moerdijk. It is being investigated whether the damage can still be repaired, or whether the door needs to be replaced completely,” says Bart Faber of Rijkswaterstaat. That can take weeks. Until that time, ships have to make a big detour, via the Maas-Waal Kanaal near Nijmegen, to reach their destination.
“There is a big dent in the top of the lock door, divers have not yet received a good picture of the damage. That is why the door has now been taken out and it is being taken to a specialist company for further investigation,” said Faber.
In the coming weeks, only smaller ships can continue via another lock at Lith. For inland shipping there is nothing else to do than make a big detour.
According to Rijkswaterstaat, it is not very often that a ship and lock door becomes and damaged. “But if it happens then it is very annoying. On the highway, a traffic jam is usually solved fairly quickly after an accident. On the water it is a different story, with very different and heavier material. That is not clear very quickly,” says Bart Faber.
The skipper was not injured in the accident and he did not transport a load.