A ship sank in the Neva river, having blocked the waterway

The ship struck a pier of a drawbridge in central St.Petersburg

The dry cargo ship, which sank in the Neva river in St.Petersburg, has completely blocked the waterway. EMERCOM specialists are working in the time trouble order. For the time being it is not know, when it is possible to resume the traffic on the river.

The dry cargo ship Kaunas struck a pier of the Liteiny drawbridge at 4 a.m. The bridge was not damaged at all, although the ship was. The press service of the Russian EMERCOM department in St.Petersburg said to PRAVDA.Ru correspondent, that the ship sank, having blocked the waterway. The crew of the ship was evacuated, no one suffered.

The ship belongs to the company Nizhni Novgorod Shipping Line. Kaunas was heading to the mouth of the Neva river, the ship went out of control under the Liteiny drawbridge and slammed into one of its piers. The ship lied over and started sinking.

The crew and the passenger of the ship (eight adults and two children) were evacuated and then interrogated by the river police. The captain of the ship said that the breakdown happened due to the fact that the steering control went out of order.

The water was inundating the holds of the vessel for four hours, and the ship sank at about 7 a.m. The ship was carrying about 2000 tons of metal. There were also 35 tons of fuel on board, the fuel started running out into the river after the breakdown. The crew of the ship said that they had managed to batten down all fuel tanks, so there would not be much of fuel spill.

Rescuers have only 24 hours to liquidate the consequences of the incident. The waterway under the Liteiny bridge is the only one way to link the Gulf of Finland and Ladoga. Up to 40 ships traverse the river daily, so if the works are not completed soon, then there is a strong possibility of a huge traffic jam on the river.

NTVRU.Com photo

Anna Radygina PRAVDA.Ru St.Petersburg

Translated by Dmitry Sudakov