Trouble on the margins of Rhine in Flames Party boat captain ignores police instructions

BONN · At the weekend, an incident occurred during the Rhine in Flames event. The captain of a party boat did not react to the instructions of the police. The officers had to board the ship twice.

On Saturday evening, the Rhein in Flammen event attracted not only thousands of visitors to the Rheinaue, but also many party guests to ships. They traditionally sail in convoys from Linz to Bonn.

According to the water police (WASP), however, one boat did not obey the rules. The "MS Germania", on which Radio Bonn/Rhein-Sieg hosted a party on Saturday, was not on the starting grid in time and when the captain, according to the water police, opposed the instructions, officials went on board to inform the skipper of the applicable regulations, the police explained on GA demand. The ship should therefore have joined the line at the end of the convoy.

When the ship rented by the organizer Tourismus & Congress GmbH was on its way to a jetty a little later because, according to the shipping company, an attachment part of the propulsion was defective, the water police tried to contact the skipper again. But, according to the police, the skipper could not be contacted by radio or mobile phone.

The officers boarded again and excluded the ship from the event. "The accessibility was no longer given. At such an event with many ships this is absolutely necessary", a police spokesperson explained on request. The skipper was reported to the police. In the evening, according to the water police, a bottle also flew towards the officers.

On Monday, the shipping company commented on the police's accusation that the captain had not replied by radio: "The skipper's primary concern was to bring the guests ashore safely," said Managing Director Rainer van Laak in response to a GA request: "In such a situation, the highest priority is given to the captain and he must decide for himself. He apologised to the guests for the inconvenience. Radio Bonn/Rhein-Sieg also commented on the incident: "As in previous years, we celebrated a great party with our listeners despite the bad weather," said editor-in-chief Jörg Bertram on GA request. He very much regretted the termination of the final line-up for the high-altitude fireworks, but said that the safety of the guests took precedence.

(Original text: Joshua Bung, Sebastian Knauth; Translation: Mareike Graepel)

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