Ukrainian tow boat 'Chelyabinsk' collides with bridge at Baja, Hungary
Wednesday, March 17, 2021
On Monday, Ukrainian towboat "Chelyabinsk" ((uk))Ukrainian language: Челябінськ ran its barge caravan into a bridge pillar on the river Danube at Baja, Hungary. The caravan broke up, but it continued its way downstream later that day. According to multiple sources, no casualties were reported.
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikinews/en/thumb/d/d8/Tow_boat_Chelyabinsk_collides_with_T%C3%BCrr_Istv%C3%A1n_Bridge%2C_Baja%2C_Hungary.gif/300px-Tow_boat_Chelyabinsk_collides_with_T%C3%BCrr_Istv%C3%A1n_Bridge%2C_Baja%2C_Hungary.gif)
The caravan consisted of six grain barges pushed by Chelyabinsk, a towboat of the Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company. Its downstream route crossed the rail-road bridge at Baja over the Danube at about marker 1480.
The caravan moved too far left from the navigable passage and hit a pillar of the bridge around 12:54 CET (1154 UTC) while trying to turn right. Gyula Szabó, a nautical expert interviewed by TV2, attributed the event to pilot error. An eyewitness told TV2 heavy winds were a contributing factor.
The caravan broke up after the collision. Boats anchored at Baja caught the barges. A police inspection found no leaks on them and the re-assembled caravan left the scene the same day.
Talking to RTL Klub, another helmsman, Dávid Pethő, pointed out this section is hard to navigate through with this kind of setup: "[This was] a caravan of about 200 meters in length [and] 33 meters in width with a mass, together with its cargo, of about 10 thousand metric tonnes. Keeping in mind that the horizontal clearance [under] the Baja bridge averages at only 60 metres, this is very large and very bulky." ((hu))Hungarian language: Kb. 200 méteres karaván, 33 méter a szélessége, és kb. 10 000 tonna az ő tömege, így megrakottan. Ez egy hatalmas nagy méret és egy hatalmas nagy súly ahhoz képest, hogy a bajai hídnak az átlag hajózó szélessége csupán 60 méter. Pethő also told RTL Klub this bridge-crossing manoeuvre starts three kilometres upstream from the bridge, with no room for error.
No significant damage was reported on the bridge, and cross-river traffic did not halt. The police categorised the case as an administrative offence.
Sources
- "Türr István híd" — Bátaszék város, March 17, 2021 (date of access) (Hungarian)
- "Hídnak ütközött, szétszakadt a hajó" — TV2, March 16, 2021 (Hungarian)
- "Hídpillérnek ütközött az uszály" — RTL Klub, March 16, 2021 (Hungarian)
- Koroknai Gergely. "Rakodásra váró hajók szedték össze a bajai hídnak ütköző uszály darabjait" — Telex, March 16, 2021 (Hungarian)
- "Корабель "Українського Дунайського пароплавства" зіштовхнувся із мостом в Угорщині" — izbirkom.org.ua, March 15, 2021 (Ukrainian)
- "webcam/baja1" — Alsó-Duna-völgyi Vízügyi Igazgatóság (Lower Danube Valley Water Authority), March 15, 2021