MS Anna Katharina accidents and incidents

24 July 2026Ship Collision / Allision

In the early hours of July 24th, 2026, the ship collided with the quay wall and lock gate while entering the Freudenau Lock (a dual-chamber shipping system) on the Danube in Vienna.

The ship struck the quay wall first, followed by the lock gate, causing major structural damage to the bow. Despite the severe impact, the hull remained watertight, with no breach below the waterline and no passengers falling overboard.

Besides the bow damage, 14 people (passengers and crew members) were officially reported injured. The collision caused many passengers to lose their balance and fall, resulting primarily in minor injuries such as bruises and neck, back, and chest pain.

The riverboat, carrying ~200 people, struck the lock wall and gate at around 4-4:30 a.m. (~2-2:30 UTC). Although the bow sustained structural damage, the hull remained intact. The ship remained afloat, and no water ingress or flooding was reported.

Emergency medical services reported that 14 were injured in the incident, of whom 6 were ambulanced to hospitals for further examination (after sustaining back, neck and chest injuries), while none suffered life-threatening injuries. The remaining 8 casualties sustained minor injuries, primarily bruises caused by the force of the impact. Most of the injured were German nationals.

The Vienna Fire Brigade deployed a large-scale response, using ladder trucks to evacuate passengers (because the ship was positioned several metres below the quay), fireboats (to access the ship) and water searches (to confirm nobody had fallen into the river).

Firefighters, police officers and emergency medical teams responded by both land and water. Before emergency services arrived, a German paramedic travelling as a passenger provided first aid to the injured.

Following the medical response and confirmation that all passengers had been accounted for, the ship's operator (Phoenix Reisen) arranged for the remaining passengers to transfer to another river cruise ship to continue their voyage.

The Austrian police launched an investigation into the collision, examining whether a technical malfunction may have contributed to the accident.

The accident occurred during the 7-night "Danube Cruise" (itinerary July 19-26, roundtrip from Passau) visiting  Melk Abbey, Vienna (Jul 20-21/overnight), Budapest, Bratislava, Wachau Valley and Weissenkirchen in der Wachau (July 24th), and the scheduled but canceled Linz (Jul 25) and Passau (Jul 26).

Note: Actually, this type of marine accident is called “allision” (striking a fixed object) as opposed to “collision” (striking another vessel).

The Freudenau Lock is a major river lock system (at the Freudenau hydropower station in Vienna) that features two large chambers that lower or raise ships by 6,8 m/22 ft to maintain safe navigation and water levels along the waterway. The lock's length is 275 m/902 ft and width (per chamber) 24 m/79 ft.