The ship which crashed into a lock gate on the Moselle river in December, paralysing traffic for almost two months, was sailing on autopilot at the time of the accident.
Details of the investigation into the cause of the crash have been released by the Koblenz public prosecutor’s office, and reveal the ship was sailing on autopilot at 12.2km/h at the time of the accident.
Sailing with an autopilot system is permitted on the Moselle as long as a ship’s captain is able to intervene in the steering process at any time, the prosecutor’s office said.
“Why the ship’s captain did not intervene is the subject of further investigations,” the office said in its statement to German news agency dpa.
No evidence was found that the ship’s captain consumed alcohol or drugs, the prosecutor’s office said, while a report obtained showed that there was no damage to the ship’s engine or controls.
“Video recordings also show that the ship was travelling without braking until it hit the lock gate,” said the office.
The Müden lock on the German side of the river was severely damaged in the collision involving a cargo ship on 8 December. Around 70 ships were stranded following the crash and were eventually freed after a painstaking operation lasting around three weeks.
Ships have only been able to travel through the repaired lock again since Saturday.
(This article was originally published by Luxemburger Wort. Translation, editing and adaptation by Audrey McGaw)