Tank Barge Loses Wheelhouse in Bridge Allision on Belgian Canal
On Saturday morning, an inland tank barge hit a bridge over a canal near Izegem, Belgium, tearing off the wheelhouse and dislodging a car on the top deck of the vessel.
That morning, the double-unit barge Voluntas (ENI 06003745) finished offloading a fuel oil cargo at the town of Roeselare and got under way. As it transited on the Roeselare–Leie Canal through Izegem, it had to pass under the Centrumbrug, a large bridge connecting the downtown core with the northern half of the town.
Having offloaded its cargo, Voluntas had greater air draft than it did on the laden outbound voyage, and its wheelhouse was too high to clear the bridge. The master had to exit the wheelhouse swiftly in order to escape the impending allision, and he sustained injuries in the process, according to local outlet HLN.
The impact destroyed Voluntas' wheelhouse, but the crew was still able to maneuver it away from the bridge under its own power, and they moored it nearby with assistance from a good Samaritan vessel. The master was evacuated by ambulance for treatment.
The bridge itself did not suffer any meaningful damage, according to HLN.
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In 2023, the cargo barge Remacum encountered the same bridge and lost its wheelhouse in a comparable accident. Wheelhouse-bridge allisions are not uncommon on Europe's inland waterways, and some vessels are designed with retractable wheelhouses that can be raised and lowered hydraulically to pass under low-hanging spans.
Top image: Liesbeth Mielen / VesselFinder
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