The ''Emsmoon'' is a cargo ship that was built in 2000 as ''Morgenstond III''. In December 2015, she collided with and demolished the bridge carrying the

Ihrhove–Nieuweschans railway The Ihrhove–Nieuweschans railway is an international railway line running from Ihrhove near Leer in Germany to Bad Nieuweschans in the Netherlands. The line was opened in 1876. Ihrhove is situated on the north-south Emsland Railway, between ...

over the Ems.

Description

The ship is long overall ( between perpendiculars), with a beam of . She has a depth of and a draught of . She is powered by a

Wärtsilä Wärtsilä Oyj Abp (), trading internationally as Wärtsilä Corporation, is a Finnish company which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the marine and energy markets. The core products of Wärtsilä include technol ...

8R32LNE

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

. The engine has eight cylinders of 320mm stroke by 350mm bore. Rated at , it can propel her at . She is assessed as , , , and has a

container A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping. Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...

capacity of 356 TEU. She has the

IMO number The IMO number of the International Maritime Organization is a generic term covering two distinct meanings. The IMO ship identification number, is a type of hull number used as a unique ship identifier, and the IMO company and registered owner ...

9213894.

History

''Morgenstond III'' was built in 2000 as

yard number __NOTOC__ M ...

325 by Ferus Smit BV, Westerbroek,

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

, Netherlands. Laid down on 29 June 1998, she was launched on 18 November 2000 and completed on 14 December 2000. She was built for C.V. Scheepvaartonderneming Morgenstond III,

Siddeburen Siddeburen (; Gronings: ''Sibboeren'' or ''Siddeboeren'') is a village in the Dutch province of Groningen. It is located in the municipality of Midden-Groningen, about 10 km southwest of Delfzijl. Siddeburen was a separate municipality unti ...

, Groningen and operated under the management ,

Delfzijl Delfzijl (; gos, Delfsiel) is a city and former municipality with a population of 25,651 in the province of Groningen (province), Groningen in the northeast of the Netherlands. Delfzijl was a sluice between the Delf (canal), Delf and the Ems (riv ...

, Groningen. The callsign PBAX was allocated and her port of registry was Siddeburen. ''Morgenstond III'' was sold in 2005 to Emsmoon NTH Schiffahrts, Papenburg-Ems, Germany and was renamed ''Emsmoon''. She was placed under the management of Marlow Ship Management,

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, Germany. This was later changed to Grona Shipping GmbH & Co.KG., Leer, Germany. Her port of registry is

St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda St. John's is the capital and largest city of Antigua and Barbuda, part of the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea. With a population of 22,219, St. John's is the commercial centre of the nation and the chief port of the island of Antigua. Hi ...

. Her

MMSI number A Maritime Mobile Service Identity (MMSI) is effectively a maritime object's international ''maritime telephone number'', a temporarily assigned UID, issued by that object's current flag state, (unlike an IMO, which is a global forever UID). An ...

is 304877000 and the callsign V2BN3 is allocated. On 3 December 2015, ''Emsmoon'' collided with the ''

Friesenbrücke The Friesenbrücke is a railway bridge in Weener, Germany, crossing the river Ems (river), Ems. Background The first bridge was built under the name ''Emsbrücke Hilkenborg'' between 1874 and 1876. In June 1922 the Lighter (barge), lighter ''H ...

'', which carries the

over the Ems. The cause of the accident was reported to be miscommunication between the bridge operator and

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

on board the ship. The bridge could not be raised as a train was due, but the ship failed to stop and collided with the bridge, blocking both railway and river. The bridge was so severely damaged that it will have to be demolished. Replacement is expected to take at least nine years. ''Emsmoon'' was pulled from the wreckage of the bridge by the

tug A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

''Gerd Bliede'' and taken to

Papenburg Papenburg (; East Frisian Low Saxon: ''Papenbörg'') is a city in the district of Emsland, Lower Saxony, Germany, situated at the river Ems. It is known for its large shipyard, the Meyer-Werft, which specializes in building cruise liners. Geog ...

. Afterwards, the bridge was demolished in 2021/22. Opening of the new bridge is planned for 2024.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Emsmoon 2000 ships Ships built in the Netherlands Merchant ships of the Netherlands Cargo ships of Antigua and Barbuda Maritime incidents in 2015 Railway accidents in 2015 Railway accidents and incidents in Germany