Ship collision – Crane to salvage wreck from Danube soon to arrive

Rescue teams working to salvage wrecked Hableány, which sank in the River Danube after colliding with a large cruise ship last Wednesday, will have to wait a few more days before a suitably large crane arrives at the site of the disaster near Margaret Bridge in central Budapest, the head of Hungary’s counter-terrorism force TEK, which is in charge of the operation, told a press conference on Monday.

János Hajdu said the crane, which could lift 200 tonnes, could not at present be shipped to the site under the bridges due to high water levels.

He said

the wrecked sightseeing boat, lying at a depth of nine metres, was over 27 metres long and weighed 50 tonnes.

Hajdu said that divers first attempted to approach the wreck on May 30, but added that the swift current of the flooding river and “practically zero centimetre sighting distance” in the 12-15 Celsius water made their work nearly impossible. He added that divers are forbidden to enter the wreck for their own safety.

The salvage operation, assisted by a 54-strong South Korean team and Austrian experts, will focus on lifting the wreck out of the water in one piece, he said.