Wreck Of The Waldorf – Salvage of sunken tanker shuts down section of German Rhine River

FRANKFURT -(Dow Jones)- Maritime traffic on the Rhine river has been blocked entirely between the German towns of St. Goar and Oberwesel since Wednesday afternoon, and voyages will likely remain blocked throughout Thursday due to an operation to salvage the ship Waldorf that capsized Jan. 13, an official from the German Waterways and Shipping Administration told Dow Jones Newswires.

Downstream voyages have been blocked for some time and will remain so for the time being, Florian Krekel from the authority added.

It is still too early to say when the blockage will be over as examinations on the stranded tanker are ongoing, he said.

Some trains in the area, close to the famous Loreley cliff tourist attraction, have been replaced with bus services until at least 1600 GMT, according to a press release from the waterways authority.

The tanker, carrying 2,400 tons of sulphuric acid, remains in the Rhine but the authorities intend to extract the acid before removing the ship from the river, the press release said.

Until now, upstream voyages had been permitted in limited capacity while downstream voyages were blocked shortly after the incident.

By Natascha Divac and Harriet Torry, Copyright (c) 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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