HAMBURG (Reuters) -Freight shipping on the river Mosel in west Germany has been blocked to shipping after an accident involving a passenger ship that damaged a lock, river police said on Thursday.
The river, known as the Moselle in France, is an important transit route for grains and rapeseed between Germany and France. Transit along it was halted after an accident on Wednesday damaged a lock at Sankt Aldegund between Koblenz and Trier, a police spokesperson said.
Vessels cannot pass the Sankt Aldegund lock in either direction, the spokesperson said.
Technical experts on Thursday were examining the lock, and it is not yet possible to comment on the level of damage or say how long the impact on shipping will last, a spokesperson for the river navigation authority WSA added.
The river was closed to inland waterways shipping in December after an accident that damaged a lock at Mueden south of Koblenz, and only reopened in February as lengthy repairs were needed.
(Reporting by Michael Hogan and Gus Trompiz, editing by)