Due to severe weather

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Current situation in Lower Austria

(Bild: APA/SOPHIA KILLINGER)

The consequences of last day's storm are also clearly visible on Tuesday. With immediate effect, the Danube is closed to all shipping throughout Austria until further notice.

"Safety on the Danube is the top priority for passengers and freight ships. The current situation does not allow for the release of shipping traffic. We will only be able to give the all-clear as soon as it is possible for ships to dock and disembark safely and continue their journey," said Martin Steingruber, Head of Navigation Supervision.

Swiss river cruise ship stranded
It was only on Monday that a partial closure of scheduled services was put in place for the whole of Austria after 102 passengers and 40 crew members on the Swiss river cruise ship "Thurgau Prestige" had to remain on board in Vienna.

During the course of the day, "an orderly departure was to be carried out in cooperation with the shipping authorities" - the plan was for the ship to be able to dock at Handelskai. This was followed by the complete closure of the entire Danube.

Several ships stranded
In addition to the stranded river cruise ship "Thurgau Prestige", many other ships on the Danube that were stranded in Vienna due to the circumstances were also affected. The river cruise ship "MS Primadonna" from Linz-based Donau Touristik was also stranded "in the middle of a trip" in Linz. 

Shipping has also been at a standstill on Lake Attersee in Upper Austria since Tuesday afternoon due to flooding. The Vöcklabruck district authority has issued a ban on shipping until 9 a.m. on Thursday. The only exceptions are watercraft belonging to the fire department, police, Red Cross and water rescue services. There are exceptions for professional fishermen. Violations can be expensive: The penalty range is between 72 and 3633 euros.

Water levels are slowly falling again
Although water levels are slowly decreasing, "the unpredictability of melting snow due to rising temperatures remains a major uncertainty factor", according to the Ministry of Transport. It is therefore still unclear how long the large-scale closure will be lifted.