Software Failure Congests Maritime Traffic in the Kiel Canal

Last Sunday, a group of large vessels were prevented from entering Germany's Kiel Canal, which connects the North Sea with the Baltic due to a software problem - the signal was given by a maritime authority spokesman.

"We had to stop the traffic for safety reasons. Our colleagues have been trying everything to solve the problem as quickly as possible," Detlef Wittmüss, head of the Kiel Canal Waterways and Shipping Authority, told the Kieler Nachrichten newspaper. 

According to the spokesman, smaller ships were able to re-enter the canal in Brunsbüttel, on the North Sea side, earlier in the afternoon, and by the end of the day small vessels were also able to resume their journeys. Sundays are normally days when more than 80 ships use the Kiel Canal.

In recent days, new software has been installed to control navigation on the artificial waterway, the spokesman added. So far, it has been working flawlessly.