River Cruise Ship Accident Results In Damage, 14 Injuries
If you're booked on the Anna Katharina's current Passau-to-Danube sailing through Germany, Austria, Hungary and Slovakia, know that guests and crew were transferred to another vessel to continue the seven-night itinerary. Passengers on affected or upcoming Phoenix Reisen Danube sailings should watch for updates from the line as the investigation into the Vienna incident continues and the captain is interviewed.
Fourteen injuries from a near-full-speed impact with a lock wall is a serious incident, but the 4:30 am timing likely kept the toll low — the Panorama Terrace and Lounge in the damaged bow was empty. My read is Phoenix Reisen handled the immediate logistics well: guests and crew were accounted for and moved to another ship to finish the seven-night Passau-to-Danube run rather than stranded. The open question is the "technical malfunction" local media floated as a possible cause — if that holds up when the 49-year-old Polish captain is interviewed, it's a fleet-wide maintenance conversation, not just a one-off human error. I'd want to see the investigation's findings before booking another Phoenix Reisen Danube sailing, and I'd ask the line directly what "technical malfunction" might mean for sister ships.