Kiel Canal

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Kiel Canal
Caption
abbreviation NOK
location Germany , Schleswig-Holstein
length 98.26 km
Built 1887-1895
Expanded 1st expansion 1907–1914
2nd expansion since 1965
class VIb
Beginning Brunsbüttel , Elbe ( North Sea )
The End Kiel-Holtenau , Kiel Fjord ( Baltic Sea )
Descent structures Brunsbüttel
Kiel-Holtenau
Ports Rendsburg
Junctions, crossings Gieselau Canal
Eider
Historical precursors Eider Canal
Used river Eider , Levensau
Outstanding structures Brunsbüttel
high bridge Hochdonn
high bridge Hohenhörn high bridge
Grünentaler high bridge Canal
tunnel Rendsburg
Rendsburg high bridge with transporter ferry
Rader high bridge
Levensauer high
bridges Holtenauer high bridges
Information center, museum at both locks
Kilometrage ascending towards the Baltic Sea
Top speed. 15 km / h
13-09-23-Fotoflug-Nordsee-RalfR-N3S 0008.jpg
Elbe, lock systems of the Kiel Canal in Brunsbüttel and road bridge B-5 in the background

The Kiel Canal ( NOK ; international designation Kiel Canal in Germany until 1948. Kaiser Wilhelm channel ) connects the North Sea ( Elbe estuary ) to the Baltic Sea ( Kiel Fjord ). This federal waterway is one of the most frequently used artificial waterways for seagoing vessels worldwide . In 2018, 30,009 ships passed through it (2017: 30,269, 2016: 29,284, 2015: 32,091, 2014: 32,589, 2013: 31,097, 2012: 34,879, 2011: 33,522).

The canal crosses the state of Schleswig-Holstein between Brunsbüttel and Kiel-Holtenau over a length of almost 100 kilometers . This saves him the trip around the Cimbrian Peninsula ( Jutland ) through the North Sea, Skagerrak and Kattegat . With the canal, the route is on average 250 nautical miles (around 460 km) shorter, depending on the port of departure and destination  .

The first connection between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea for seagoing ships was the Schleswig-Holstein Canal , which went into operation in 1784 and renamed the Eiderkanal in 1853 .

description

The canal has the same water level over its entire length and thus belongs to the mirror-like lake canals. It is closed at both ends by sluices against the changing water levels caused by the tides in the North Sea or a wind jam in the Baltic Sea area. The endpoints are in Brunsbüttel on the Lower Elbe (km 0.38) and in Kiel-Holtenau on the Kiel Fjord (km 98.64). They are 98.26 km apart (85½ km as the crow flies). The river code 5978 officially assigns the canal to the river system of the Elbe.

The canal passes through various landscape zones in Schleswig-Holstein. First he crosses the marshland and then cuts through a ridge . On this route, the course of the canal between Burg (Dithmarschen) and Schafstedt is based on the course of the Holstenau and from kilometer 41 to beyond Rendsburg then on the Eiderniederung , in whose river bed it runs northeast of Rendsburg. Then the canal reaches the eastern hill country . Between Rendsburg, the most important port city along the canal, and Kiel, the canal forms the border between the regions of Schleswig and Holstein .

At kilometer 40.66, the Gieselau Canal has branched off to the north since 1937 as a connection to the Untereider. The North-Baltic Sea Canal still includes the Borgstedter See with Enge northeast of Rendsburg as federal waterways on its northwest side and the Flemhuder See at kilometer 85.32 and the Achterwehrer Schifffahrtskanal at kilometer 85.63. Until 1913 the Obereider flowed through the Flemhuder See, since then the water has flowed through the Achterwehrer Schifffahrtskanal into the Kiel Canal. About 1200 square kilometers of the original catchment area of ​​the Eider drain into the Kiel Canal. Until 2008, the lake-like expanded Obereider between the Kiel Canal and Rendsburg belonged to the canal.

The canal drains a total of 1580 square kilometers, of which 250 square kilometers are artificially drained by pumping stations. Between 4 m³ / s and 190 m³ / s flow into the sewer, an average of 20 m³ / s. The water mainly flows into the Elbe near Brunsbüttel, which is subject to the tidal influence of the North Sea here .

In contrast to the shallower inland canals, in the Kiel Canal only the bank areas between one meter above and up to two meters below the water level are secured for protection. Here, stones weighing 15 to 50 kilograms lie on a 30 to 50 centimeter layer of gravel. With soft surfaces such as peat or clay , these lie on a bush mat in order to optimally distribute the weight. To keep the canal navigable, 6½ million m³ of wet silt are dredged in Brunsbüttel each year , and another 100,000 m³ of erosion material in the rest of the canal. The use of the dredgers involves on the one hand a collision hazard for shipping, on the other hand especially the use of seems dredgers to disturb the ecology of the channel.

Eight roads and four railway lines cross the Kiel Canal on a total of ten bridges , thirteen vehicle and one passenger ferries enable transport to the other side, and a road and a pedestrian tunnel have existed near Rendsburg since 1961 . The high-level railway bridge in Rendsburg with the transporter ferry hanging below is well known . All bridges have the same headroom of 42 meters for shipping because the channel in the construction of the battleships of Germany class of the Imperial Navy was designed.

Dimensions of the duct

length 98.26 km
Width in the water level 162 m (102.5 m on the eastern stretch)
Width in the sole 90 m (44 m on the eastern stretch)
Water depth 11 m
Height of the bridges above the waterline 42 m

See the section on traffic regulations for the maximum permitted ship dimensions .

Locks

The locks at both ends of the canal, both in Brunsbüttel and in Kiel-Holtenau, each have two small lock chambers (old or small lock) and two large lock chambers (new or large lock). Due to the meanwhile old age of the locks, a fifth lock chamber was planned in Brunsbüttel. Construction of the fifth lock chamber began in 2014 on the lock island between the small and large locks. The construction contract provided for a seven-year construction period. On April 11, 2014, construction contracts were awarded for 485 million euros. In autumn 2018, a report by the Federal Ministry of Transport to the Bundestag's budget committee revealed that the fifth lock chamber was not expected to be released until 2024 at the earliest and that the total costs for this would now amount to 800 million euros.

After repeated short-term closures of individual lock chambers due to repairs to the lock systems that were repeatedly required, both chambers of the large lock in Brunsbüttel had to be closed for eight days on March 6, 2013 in order to exchange a defective lock gate for a repaired one. Even at the small lock, only one chamber was operational. During this work, the canal was not navigable for ships over 125 meters in length. These ships had to take the detour through the Skagerrak during the closure . According to industry information, this caused additional costs of 70,000 euros per ship. By March 14, 2013, the emergency repair of the southern chamber of the Great Lock had progressed so far that it could be used again and the length restriction could be lifted. On March 14, 2013, two of four lock chambers were closed, and the repair work was ongoing.

In 2013, federal funding for the canal was cut from 60 to 11 million euros.

The following table shows some technical data for the lock chambers in Brunsbüttel and Kiel-Holtenau.

Small double
lock Brunsbüttel and Holtenau
Large double
locks in Brunsbüttel and Holtenau
New lock Brunsbüttel
(5th chamber)
Installation 1895 1914 not before 2024
Usable length 125 m 310 m 330 m (planned)
Usable width 22 m 42 m 42 m (planned)
Threshold depth in Brunsbüttel NHN  -10.2 m
in Kiel-Holtenau NHN -9.8 m
NHN -14.0 m NHN –14.0 m (planned)
Gates Miter gates
2 ebb and 2 flood gates per chamber
3 sliding gates per chamber; the middle gate (also the reserve gate)
enables faster lock-in in a shortened chamber
Sliding gates
filling through 2 side channels
with 12 branch channels each
in Brunsbüttel through gate surrounds
in Holtenau through two side channels with 29 branch channels each
by filling gates in the gates
Locking time about 30 minutes about 45 minutes still unknown
End of the canal in Kiel

history

Prehistory (until 1886)

Historical map of the Kiel Canal

The first plans for a canal across what is now Schleswig-Holstein probably go back to the 7th century. From the then flourishing trading town of Haithabu an der Schlei , only 16 kilometers of land had to be bridged between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, because the Treene flowing here flows over the Eider into the North Sea. The goods and the light ships of the Vikings were carried or pulled by oxen over this land bridge .

However, the later relocation of trade in Schleswig-Holstein to Lübeck made this plan obsolete. The Stecknitz Canal and the Alster-Beste Canal were created , but they were not intended for seagoing vessels.

The direct forerunner of the Kiel Canal was the Eider Canal , which the Danish King Christian VII had built from 1777 to 1784. It began in Kiel and flowed into the Eider at Rendsburg, which reached the North Sea at Tönning . However, a trip through the canal and the Eider took another three to four days.

The book Durchstich der Holsteinische isthmus between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, published anonymously by Verlag der Buchhandlung Heiberg in Schleswig in 1863, offered a detailed assessment of possible routes including an extrapolation of the costs and benefits of building a canal . The impetus for this came from the "projecting of a canal system through Holstein from the mouth of the Elbe ... to the Baltic Sea", which the Royal Danish Ministry had commissioned in 1862 for the duchies of Holstein and Lauenburg . In 1864, at the beginning of the German-Danish War , the Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck gave the order to investigate a connection between the North and Baltic Seas, "which all war, merchant and steam ships can easily pass". The German fleet should be given the opportunity “to get from the Baltic Sea to the North Sea at any time without having to pass under Danish cannons”. This clearly addressed the primarily military-strategic character of the canal project. Generals Moltke and Albrecht von Roon , however, spoke out against the canal project promoted by Bismarck. Chief of Staff Helmuth Karl Bernhard von Moltke even wrote a pamphlet speech against the canal construction .

In 1873 the canal project seemed to have failed. But Bismarck found allies. In 1878 the Hamburg shipowner Heinrich Dahlström , also known as "Kanalström", and the hydraulic engineering inspector Fritz Boden presented a plan for a canal that was to lead largely along the current route from Kiel-Holtenau to Brunsbüttel. Bismarck succeeded in winning over Kaiser Wilhelm I for the canal construction. In 1883, the emperor issued an order to consult about the construction of the canal, specifically “with the dimensions necessary for the fleet”. The brothers Georg Franzius and Ludwig Franzius were supposed to clarify whether the channel should better flow into the Kiel Fjord or the Eckernförde Bay . After their vote, the Kiel solution was decided in 1887, despite considerable additional costs.

Construction and first extension (1886-1914)

Capstone ceremony on June 21, 1895
Moltkestein
Commemorative medal for the guests invited to the opening
0 euro note 125 years of Kiel Canal (2020)
SMS Dresden in the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal

In 1886 the Reichstag approved a law to build the Kiel Canal and on June 3, 1887 the foundation stone was laid by Kaiser Wilhelm I in Kiel-Holtenau; the chief engineer was Otto Baensch . Up to 8,900 workers moved around 80 million m³ of earth. In this first stage of expansion, the canal was 67 meters wide and 9 meters deep.

Field Marshal Moltke, opponent of the canal, was present at a construction site inspection on April 6, 1891. As a reminder of this day, Kaiser Wilhelm II had a 15-ton boulder set up roughly in the middle of the canal. The “Moltkestein” is located at a rest area on the western bank of the canal opposite the “Rüsterbergen” pilot station. Location

On June 20, 1895, after eight years of construction, Kaiser Wilhelm II was able to designate the "Kiel Canal", but on June 21, it was renamed the "Kaiser Wilhelm Canal" after his grandfather. The ceremony was filmed by the British Birt Acres with a film camera; his film Opening of the Kiel Canal is considered the oldest film recording in Germany.

Regular operations began on July 1, 1895. The construction had cost 156 million  marks and thus, unusual for a project of this size, did not exceed the estimated costs.

The canal was owned by the Reich, making it the first Reich waterway and administered by the Imperial Canal Office / Reich Canal Office in Kiel.

In 1898/1900 Germany began to considerably enlarge and modernize its fleet (see Tirpitz plan , naval laws , German-British naval competition ). Some capital ships of the Imperial Navy built after 1900 could not pass through the canal because of their size.

The canal was expanded for the first time from 1907 to 1914. The width was increased to 102 meters and the depth to 11 meters. In addition, two new locks each were built in Kiel and Brunsbüttel. With a length of 310 meters and a width of 42 meters, these are significantly larger than the old locks, which are 125 meters long and 22 meters wide.

The expansion cost 242 million marks and was therefore significantly more expensive than the entire canal construction before 1895.

At Schacht-Audorf , the so-called Rader piercing was created to straighten the canal, through which the Rader Island was created. This separated the Audorfer industrial railway . In order to ensure the supply of the companies and sidings, the railway ferry Rade went into operation on April 5, 1914 . The free-moving ferry could accommodate four wagons and was the only existing rail ferry across the canal.

Second World War

During the entire Second World War , the canal remained navigable. Ships that had been agitated by bombing, sea ​​mines or collisions were disposed of immediately. The warships in the canal, which were heavily armed with light and heavy anti-aircraft guns, posed a considerable risk to attacking aircraft.

On October 29, 1938, Winston S. Churchill - at the time a privateer and no political office - advised in a note to the then Minister of Coordination of Defense Thomas Inskip that the canal be made impassable by means of mines or targeted air strikes in order to contain the danger. that in the event of a war the German navy would invade the canal from the Baltic Sea into the North Sea to the Royal Navy . He knew that the Baltic Sea was of strategic importance for Germany and that the majority of the Kriegsmarine was stationed there, but that the Kiel Canal gave them a quick way to dispute the North Sea with the Royal Navy.

The Morgenthaupplan , which was drawn up by the American side during the war , envisaged the creation of an internationalized canal zone for the Kiel Canal (similar ideas existed for the Ruhr area), and southern Schleswig, north of the zone, was to fall back to Denmark. However, corresponding plans were abandoned after 1946.

Expansion plans from 2010

The Brunsbüttel Waterways and Shipping Office is planning and building the 5th lock chamber.

Construction of the 5th lock chamber in Brunsbüttel

The two large lock chambers in Brunsbüttel are over 100 years old and increasingly in need of repair. The necessary basic repairs are only possible with blocks of several years. In order to avoid significant restrictions for shipping, a fifth lock chamber will be built - as a bypass, so to speak. The planning approval decision for the construction of the 5th lock chamber has been legally binding since September 2010. On April 11, 2014, lot I “Construction of the 5th lock chamber” was commissioned by the Waterways and Shipping Office (WSA) Brunsbüttel. In May 2014, lot II “Construction of three new sliding gates and their floating pontoons” was also commissioned by the WSA Brunsbüttel. The 5th lock chamber is now being built on the lock island between the existing small and large locks. It will have a usable length of 330 meters. The width of the 5th lock chamber with a usable width of 42 meters corresponds to the dimensions of the existing large locks. With an order volume of around half a billion euros, the lock is the largest hydraulic construction site in Germany. The construction of the 5th lock chamber is a major technical challenge. The lock operation of the existing locks must not be impaired by the construction work; this applies to both the waterway and the accessibility of the lock chambers to each other on the footpath. The restricted space on the lock island requires careful construction methods in order not to damage the existing locks. All construction workers as well as the building materials must be brought to the island by water. That requires well-developed logistics. At the same time, flood protection must be guaranteed throughout. During the construction of the 5th lock chamber, around 1.7 million cubic meters of soil - mainly clay - are produced . This is brought by water through the Kiel Canal to the Dhyrrsenmoor ground storage facility at canal kilometer 13. According to the construction contract, the construction project should take around seven years. At the beginning of 2018 there were significant delays compared to the original schedule, among other things due to the time-consuming disposal of ordnance and disputes over the interpretation of some passages in the construction contract. At the end of 2018, the 5th lock chamber was expected to be released in 2023 at the earliest. In March 2020, the construction companies involved assumed that the 5th lock chamber could be opened to shipping at the end of 2026.

The planning group set up in 2008 for the expansion of the Kiel Canal plans and supports the following measures:

Expansion of the eastern route through curve and switch optimization

Expansion work (July 2020)

The area of ​​the as yet undeveloped eastern stretch between the Königsförde siding and the inland port Holtenau has developed into a bottleneck and is therefore to be expanded - like the western stretch, which has long been completed. By expanding the canal embankment to around eleven kilometers, the canal is to be widened to a minimum width of 70 meters and the curves flattened. On November 30th, 2009 the application was submitted by the waterway and shipping authority Kiel-Holtenau . On December 4, 2013, the planning approval decision was issued and handed over to the developer. On June 5, 2014, the budget committee of the German Bundestag made funds available for this in the amount of EUR 265 million. 5 million euros of this should be available in 2014 [out of date] for remaining plans and tenders.

The expansion of the four kilometer long area between Großkönigsförde and Schinkel or Groß Nordsee should start in mid-2019. However, the expansion did not begin until January 2020. A construction period of three years is planned for this.

Then it should continue in the direction of Kiel. The construction time for the entire 18-kilometer route to Kiel is estimated at ten years and costs of 280 million euros. The completion of the expansion work on the eastern route to Kiel is not expected before 2030.

Construction of the lock chambers in Kiel

The small locks in Kiel-Holtenau, inaugurated in 1895, have been out of operation since mid-2014 due to being dilapidated. In March 2016 it was announced that it would be replaced by a new building. With the same external dimensions, the usable length should increase by 30 m to 155 m by eliminating the inner doors, the usable width by 1 m to 21.5 m and the usable depth to 8.5 m.

Originally, the previous lock chambers were supposed to be filled in from autumn 2016, the new construction was supposed to start in 2018, but the work had not started until September 2017. The planned costs amounted to 240 million euros. In May 2018, the lock gates were removed with the Enak floating crane . In September 2018 it was announced that the construction of the new small locks could be expected from mid-2021. The construction time should be five years. The costs are estimated at 240 to 285 million euros. This is to be followed by the renovation of the Great Locks. In May 2019, the lock chambers were filled with sea sand to stabilize the structure during the demolition.

New construction of the Levensau high bridge

A new construction of the Levensau high bridge and the demolition of the bridge from 1894 began in spring 2018. The new bridge is to be Template: future / in 4 yearscompleted in 2024 .

Deepening of the canal bottom

For the steadily larger ships and the increase in canal passages, the current state of development of the Kiel Canal represents a bottleneck. In addition to optimizing curves and passing points on the eastern stretch, a deepening of the Kiel Canal by one meter is planned over its entire length. Because of the tunnel in Rendsburg , a deepening of more than 1½ meters would not be possible. According to information from mid-2018, the deepening will not take place before completion of the expansion work on the eastern route.

Repair of the Rendsburg road tunnel

The Rendsburg road tunnel has been repaired since 2011.

Kiel Canal initiative

Maritime companies and nautical institutions founded the Kiel Canal eV initiative in Kiel. They criticize the fact that announcements by politics are hardly followed by action. According to the Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration , both the number of ship passages and the tonnage declined in 2013 . 31,097 ships (−10.8%) transported 94.8 million tons of cargo (−9%). The reasons given were not only the ailing locks, but also strikes and an average . Some shipping companies have therefore switched to the much wider, but calculable route around Skagen.

In addition, it should be noted that freight traffic has been increasingly shifting to cargo ships for around two decades , which are simply too big for the Kiel Canal (for container ships e.g. Regina-Mærsk-Type , 1995, 318 m length; current Ultra Large Container Ships reach 400 m length).

Usage regime and expansion

The Treaty of Versailles internationalized the canal in 1919. In 1923, a dispute broke out in the Permanent International Court of Justice over one of these regulations , known as the Wimbledon case . In a note dated November 14, 1936 to 15 states, the German Reich government declared the internationalized legal status to be over (RGBl. II, 361f.); of the states concerned, only Czechoslovakia and France protested against this .

In 1948, at the request of the Allies, the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal was renamed the Kiel Canal , as it was already known in the planning and construction phase; in international traffic it is still called “Kiel Canal”. The canal has been expanded for the second time since 1965. To protect the embankment, the width will be increased to 162 meters up to canal kilometer 87. To date (2012) this has not been completed; the total costs are estimated at 485 million euros. The Waterways and Shipping Directorate North in Kiel carried out the planning approval procedure for the adaptation of the eastern stretch of the Kiel Canal. On October 7, 2006, the new electronic traffic control system , in which 13.5 million euros were invested, was inaugurated. It resulted in the centralization of the control center in Brunsbüttel.

traffic

The Aeolian Vision on April 15, 2012 in the channel

After the number of ships had reached a low of around 35,000 in 1999, it rose continuously, following the trends in international shipping, until the economic crisis of 2008 . In 2004 around 41,000 ships with around 80 million tons of cargo passed through  the canal, in 2006 there were around 43,000 vehicles. A large part of this is feeder traffic , which comes from the Baltic Sea region to the ports in the southern North Sea or Hamburg, where their cargoes are assembled into trans-ocean passages. The largest cargo ship to have passed the canal in terms of dimensions was the Nürnberg Express on March 21, 1998 with a length of 240.50 meters, width of 32.20 meters and 38,991  GT . The 229 meter long and 32.24 meter wide bulk carrier Aeolian Vision , which passed the canal on April 15, 2012 with a draft of 7.2 meters, had a larger gross tonnage of 43,767 GT. The largest ships in the canal were the battleships Bismarck (between September 1940 and March 1941 a total of three passages) and Tirpitz (two passages in January 1942) with a length of around 251 meters and a width of 36 meters . In September 2000, the shell of the 258 meter long and 32.25 meter wide passenger ship Norwegian Sun was towed through the canal.

In 2011, 33,522 ships with a total gross tonnage (GT) of 154.5 million passed through the canal . The total volume of goods transported increased by 16.9% compared to the previous year and amounted to 98,036,571 t. This shows that the size of the ships and the amount of their cargo are increasing, but not the number of ships. In 2012, 34,879 ships (+ 4%) with a total GT of 166,134,880 (+ 7.5%) passed the canal, the transported cargo volume was a good 104 million t (+ 6%). In 2013, 31,097 ships passed (−10.8%), the amount of cargo carried was 94.8 million t (approx. −9%), whereby the canal was due to various reasons in that year (major repairs, strikes, storms and a heavy one Average) was blocked for a total of 18 days. The years of neglect of infrastructure by the federal government are also noticeable here. In 2014 around 32,600 ships used the canal, the total of their GT was 155.5 million (+3.4%), the transported cargo volume was a good 99.1 million t (+4.8%). In 2015, 32,122 (−1.4%) ships sailed through the canal, their gross tonnage totaled 155 million. In 2016, 29,284 ships sailed in the canal, 20,933 of them in through traffic, and 8351 in partial-haul traffic. 7 million t of cargo carried (−7.6%), the gross tonnage of all ships totaled 128.5 million GT. In 2017, 30,269 ships passed the canal, a total of almost 87 million tons were transported, in 2018 there were 30,006 ships with 87.49 million tons. In 2019, a total of 28,797 ships transported 83.48 million t of cargo (−4.59%) through the canal. The number of pleasure craft using the canal is around 12,000 annually.

Traffic regulations

Traffic sign system

On the inland waterway Nord-Ostsee-Kanal, the shipping route regulations apply . Since the canal is used by a large number of ships of various sizes, very extensive traffic regulations apply on it. There are special rules for meeting and overtaking: Depending on their length, width and draft , the ships are divided into six traffic groups, the classification of which is the responsibility of the Brunsbüttel Waterways and Shipping Office . The draft is determined by the lock staff, the passage must be registered by the skipper himself. Encounters are only permitted in the evasions for all ships; otherwise the admissibility of an encounter depends on the sum of the traffic groups. The maximum speed for all ships is 15 km / h (8.1 kn), for ships with a draft of more than 8.5 meters it is 12 km / h (6.5 kn). A trip through the canal takes 7 to 9 hours. The regulation of the traffic flow on the Kiel Canal is known as traffic control.

Maximum individual ship dimensions
length width Mast height
(above water level)
Draft
235 m 32.5 m 40 m 9.5 m

From a ship length of 160 m, the permissible draft is reduced depending on the length and width of the ship. The combination of L = 235 m and B = 32.5 m is only permitted if the draft does not exceed 7.0 m.

Canal pilots

The Rüsterbergen pilot station in the middle of the canal at canal kilometer 55

Vehicles of traffic group 1 are allowed to pass the canal as so-called free riders. This includes small ship units such as small sailing and motor yachts, which are subject to certain length and draft specifications and are only allowed to pass during the day. Every larger ship that travels through the Kiel Canal is obliged to take on a canal pilot . Vehicles of traffic groups 2 and 3 can pass as free riders if the skipper has passed an appropriate test. The canal pilots of the Kiel Canal were civil servants until 1922. Nowadays, as freelancers, they are organized as a cooperative. There are two pilot brotherhoods: the pilot brotherhood of the Kiel Canal I in Brunsbüttel and the pilot brotherhood of the Kiel Canal II in Kiel, Lübeck, Flensburg in Kiel-Holtenau.

The canal pilots will be picked up in the Holtenau or Brunsbüttel locks and will be changed in the middle of the canal at the Rüsterbergen pilot transfer station.

Canal helmsman

What is unique in Germany is that on the Kiel Canal, in addition to the obligation to have a pilot, there is an obligation to accept helmsmen in order to avoid accidents. If a ship crosses the canal between the locations listed in the table below, it must assume the following number of canal helmsmen:

Kiel-Holtenau
→ Rüsterbergen
Rüsterbergen
Brunsbüttel
Kiel-Holtenau
→ Brunsbüttel
length 100.0 m / 115.0 m 100.0 m / 120.0 m 100.0 m / 120.0 m
width 15.5 m / 14.0 m 16.5 m / 14.5 m 19.0 m / 17.0 m
Draft 6.1 m / 6.1 m 7.0 m / 7.0 m
Canal helmsman a canal helmsman two canal helmsmen

Traffic control

NOK traffic control center between the large lock chambers of the Brunsbüttel lock

Since the Kiel Canal (NOK) was founded, it has been divided into an east and a west route. The advisory pilot is changed roughly in the middle of the canal (formerly the old pilot station near Nübbel , today pilot station Rüsterbergen). The responsible steering was for the eastern route in Kiel-Holtenau, VKZ NOK II, the radio call name is Kiel Kanal 3 , for the western route the steering is in Brunsbüttel, VKZ NOK I, radio call name Kiel Kanal 2 . The original traffic control on the Kiel Canal was based on the messages (ship name, point passing time) from the point keepers. The reports were recorded in the respective traffic control center and used by the driver as a basis for further traffic planning on the paper diagram. Planning was done manually with a ruler and pencil and was constantly updated.

On October 7, 2006, a modernized traffic safety system was put into operation. The two traffic centers were merged at the Brunsbüttel Waterways and Shipping Office to form VKZ NOK. The system is based on the Automatic Identification System (AIS) class A. On the database of this system, the computer-based path-time image (WZB) works as a replacement for the paper diagram. With the help of the WZB, the ship traffic on the entire NOK is planned by the traffic control, as is the signaling in the points. This central point signaling of the VKZ NOK made the pointkeepers superfluous, and the personnel freed as a result were distributed to other posts.

ecology

The construction of the canal had a serious impact on the water balance of the Eider . This was cut off from its upper course by the construction of the canal. This in particular reduced the current towards the North Sea. The influence of the North Sea became dominant, dikes to protect against storm surges had to be built as far as Rendsburg. In addition, the flood current carries more sediments, in particular digested sludge , into the Eider than the ebb tide and the now much weaker natural current carry out again; the river threatened to silt up, which in turn increased the risk of storm surges. With the construction of the Nordfeld lock in 1937, the problem for the central reaches of the Eider could be solved, overall the water balance of the Eider has not recovered from the construction of the canal to this day.

The construction had similar effects on other rivers cut by the canal, such as the Wilsterau , which is increasingly silted up, or the Holstenau , which runs roughly parallel to the canal and was divided into three parts by it. The Gieselau was also severed by the NOK.

Tourism

Canal ferry Hochdonn in Hochdonn
Canal ferries to Wroclaw and Berlin in Brunsbüttel

The paved service route on the canal is cleared for pedestrians and cyclists and enables almost full-length gradient-free bike tours on both sides in close proximity to the ships. Translating to the other side of the canal with one of the numerous ferries is free. Kaiser Wilhelm had already had this decree in order to achieve greater acceptance among the population, since the artificial waterway cuts through older traffic routes. The cycle paths on the Kiel Canal are part of the German Ferry Road , which opened in May 2004 , an approximately 250-kilometer holiday route that runs from Bremervörde an der Oste to Kiel .

In Hochdonn there is a campsite right on the canal. Here it is possible to swim in the canal water in a small sandy bay. There are parking spaces for mobile homes on some canal ferries and in the immediate vicinity of the Kiel lock .

The lock systems in Brunsbüttel and Kiel, as well as the lock museum located there , can be visited all year round. For the construction of the 5th lock chamber in Brunsbüttel - Germany's largest hydraulic construction site - guided tours through the local adult education center are offered.

A rest area at the A 23 motorway bridge (northwards, in front of the canal) and between junction 8 and 9 of the A 7 provide a view of the canal.

The Rendsburg ship greeting facility has existed since June 2, 1997 . There each ship is greeted by dipping the flag and with the respective national anthem under the railway bridge.

Crossings

Rendsburg high-level railway bridge with transporter ferry (2013)
Rader high bridge and high voltage lines
Power lines next to the Rader Hochbrücke

Canal crossings are generally free of charge. This not only means that the ferries can be used free of charge, but also that the federal government pays for the maintenance of the railway bridges.

bridges

Historic bridges

tunnel

Ferries

Both ferries at the Schacht-Audorf Nobiskrug ferry terminal

Unless otherwise stated, all ferries are usable for people and vehicles.

High voltage lines

New construction Ostermoor (status 2016)
  • at the Ostermoor ferry terminal ( west coast line )
  • near Bornholt (km 27) (mast height: 78 meters)
  • near Rendsburg (km 64.9) (mast height north bank: 80 meters, south bank: 88 meters)
  • at the Rader Hochbrücke (km 68.8) (4 lines, mast height up to 74 meters)
  • at Great North Sea (km 83.3) (mast height: 76 meters)

history

In the early days of the Wik – Holtenau ferry line, every journey had to be paid for. The initially applicable fee for the passenger ferry can be explained by the fact that there was a connection across the canal through the existing bridges in Kiel and the passenger ferry was thus introduced in addition to the already fulfilled obligation of the waterway and shipping administration to provide crossings. Since this obligation to pay was in contradiction to the regulation applicable to the rest of the channel, the obligation to pay was lifted. At the moment, all ferries on the Kiel Canal can be used free of charge.

Strategic importance

The canal was of great military importance in several respects. On the one hand, it would have been a "natural" obstacle for troops from the Eastern Bloc , at least after landings south of Kiel. On the other hand, it was the focal point for the 6th Panzer Grenadier Division (Bundeswehr) , the Schleswig-Holstein Territorial Command and the headquarters of the Allied Land Forces Schleswig-Holstein and Jutland . Logistics and mobilization were dependent on securing the canal. Served her many military exercises of NATO .

International comparison

The Kiel Canal is one of the busiest artificial waterways in the world. However, the amount of goods transported is well below that of the Panama Canal and the Suez Canal .

channel Length
(km, current)
Commissioning
(year)
Ship passages
(number, 2012)
Freight tons
(million, 2012)
Cargo per ship
(tons, 2012)
source
Amsterdam-Rhine Canal 072, 0 1952 87,000 164.0 01,885
Kiel Canal 098.6 1895 34,879 104.0 02.983
Panama Canal 081.6 1914 14,544 221.6 15,233
Suez Canal 193.3 1869 17,225 739.9 42,956

Notes: Excluding sports and small vehicles

In 2012, the total amount of goods transported was a good 104 million tonnes with 34,879 ships sailing the Kiel Canal. The total gross tonnage in 2012 was just under 166.135 million GT. For comparison: ten years ago, with a total GT of around 103.5 million, 38,500 ships only carried 64.6 million tons of cargo. This shows a trend towards larger ships sailing the canal.

literature

  • Kiel Committee for Canal Construction (Ed.): Memorandum on the large North German Canal between Brunsbüttler Koog on the Elbe and the Kiel harbor . Verlag Schwers, Kiel 1865 ( digitized version ).
  • Waldemar Jensen: The Kiel Canal. A documentation on the 75th anniversary of the opening . Wachholtz, Neumünster 1970.
  • Karl Ernst Kaminski: 100 years of history of the Kiel Canal. From the laying of the foundation stone to modern times; 1887-1987 . Möller, Rendsburg 1987, ISBN 3-87550-076-8 .
  • Egon Rassmus: Development of steel bridge construction on the Kiel Canal (NOK) . In: Federal Institute for Hydraulic Engineering (Hrsg.): Bulletin of the BAW . No. 65 . Karlsruhe 1989, p. 97–116 ( online [PDF; 11.6 MB ; accessed on February 13, 2019]).
  • Rainer Lagoni (Ed.): Nord-Ostsee-Kanal 1895–1995 . Festschrift. Wachholtz, Neumünster 1995, ISBN 3-529-05319-8 .
  • Gerd Peters: The Kiel Canal . Koehler, Hamburg 1995, ISBN 3-7822-0626-6 .
  • Walter Schulz: The Kiel Canal. A photo chronicle of building history . 4th edition. Westholsteinische Verlagsanstalt Boyens, Heide 1995, ISBN 3-8042-0373-6 .
  • Georg-Wilhelm Keil: 100 years of the Kiel Canal. Maritime shipping with a future . In: Manfred Jessen-Klingenberg , Jörn Meiners (Hrsg.): Messages of the Canal Association . No. 16/17 . Rendsburg 1996, p. 7-14 .
  • Gert Kaster: cultural landscape of the Kiel Canal . In: State Office for Monument Preservation Schleswig-Holstein (Ed.): DenkMal! Journal for Monument Preservation in Schleswig-Holstein. No. 10/2003 . Buchverlag Boyens, 2003, ISSN  0946-4549 , p. 25-36 .
  • Sarah Höner: The NOK expansion ensures future growth . In: Ship & Harbor . No. 6/2009 . Seehafen-Verlag, 2009, ISSN  0938-1643 , p. 18/19 (interview with Michael Hartmann).
  • Fabian Eiffert, Olaf Niekamp, ​​Sönke Meesenburg: Ship-related erosion on the Kiel Canal . In: Hansa . No. 9/2013 . Schiffahrts-Verlag Hansa , September 2013, ISSN  0017-7504 , p. 116-119 .
  • Eike-Christian Heine: The defiant elements. Challenges, technology and workers in the construction of the Kiel Canal . In: Technikgeschichte, 81. Vol. (2014), H. 4, pp. 305–334.
  • Klaus Alberts: The dream of the Kiel Canal. National symbol of the German Empire , Boyens, Heide 2014 (Time + History series of the Sparkassen-Stiftung Schleswig-Holstein, Volume 38), ISBN 978-3-8042-1401-9 .
  • Dietrich Duppel, Martin Krieger: Kiel Canal. Biography of a waterway . Wachholtz, Kiel / Hamburg 2020, ISBN 978-3-529-05045-9 .

Web links

German postage stamp from 1970 on the occasion of 75 years of the Kiel Canal, pictured is the Rendsburg Canal
Tunnel with a passenger ship
Commons : Kiel Canal  - collection of images
Wiktionary: Kiel Canal  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
Wiktionary: Kaiser-Wilhelm-Kanal  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
Wikivoyage: Kiel Canal  - travel guide

Individual evidence

  1. a b c Lengths (in km) of the main shipping routes (main routes and certain secondary routes) of the federal inland waterways ( memento of the original from January 21, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.wsv.de
  2. Allocation of the federal inland waterways serving general traffic to the waterway classes. (PDF; 73 kB) (No longer available online.) Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration , May 2004, p. 8 , archived from the original on September 27, 2007 ; Retrieved April 7, 2013 .
  3. a b Directory E, Ser. No. 38 of the Chronicle ( Memento of the original from July 22, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.wsv.de
  4. Stable amounts of cargo, larger ships! GDWS , Annual Balance Sheet 2018 of the NOK, press release from January 25, 2018, accessed on January 30, 2019
  5. Well used canal tank farm . In: Daily port report of March 7, 2018, p. 2
  6. Peter Kleinort: Significant decline in cargo loads in the Kiel Canal · Weak trade with China and sanctions against Russia have an effect . In: Daily port report of January 13, 2017, p. 1/2
  7. Frank Binder: NOK: cargo minus and fewer ships · The reasons: old and broken locks, accidents and heavy losses in trade with Russia . In: Daily port report of February 3, 2016, p. 2
  8. Eckhard-Herbert Arndt: "SECA" also helps the NOK · Figures for 2014 · Still waiting times in front of locks . In: Daily port report from January 23, 2015, p. 1/2
  9. 2012 annual report of the Waterways and Shipping Directorate North on wsd-nord.wsv.de ( Memento of the original from November 9, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; Suez Canal : 17,225 ships (2012); 17,799 ships (2011) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.wsd-nord.wsv.de
  10. Gert Kaster: cultural landscape of the Kiel Canal . In: Monument . Journal for Monument Preservation in Schleswig-Holstein. 10/2003, ISSN  0946-4549 , p. 30
  11. Federal Law Gazette I / 11 of March 31, 2008, page 449
  12. New construction of the 5th lock chamber and basic overhaul of the "Great Lock" in Brunsbüttel. (No longer available online.) In: Portal Nord-Ostsee-Kanal. Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration , December 22, 2010, archived from the original on September 30, 2013 ; Retrieved March 13, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.portalnok.de
  13. Frank Binder, Wolfhart Fabarius: NOK: Fifth lock delayed · Differences between shipping administration and construction company · No start date for the excavation yet . In: Daily port report of September 4, 2015, p. 1.
  14. ↑ Site plan of 5th lock chamber, outer harbor, flushing pipeline. (PDF; 2 MB) (No longer available online.) In: Plan documents for the new construction of the 5th lock chamber and the new construction of the gate repair dock. Wasser- und Schifffahrtsamt Brunsbüttel, January 20, 2009, archived from the original on September 4, 2014 ; Retrieved July 21, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.portalnok.de
  15. ^ Report on the release of funds for the construction of the 5th lock chamber
  16. 265 million euros for the NOK expansion . In: Daily port report from June 10, 2014, p. 1
  17. Wolfhart Fabarius: Much later, much more expensive . In: Daily port report of October 12, 2018, p. 1/2
  18. "Nord-Ostsee-Scandal" heats the mind. (No longer available online.) In: NDR 1 Welle Nord . NDR , March 7, 2013, archived from the original on March 11, 2013 ; accessed on March 14, 2013 : “For months, the ailing technology in the Kiel Canal has been causing problems for shipping. There has been no investment for years. "
  19. ^ NOK: "Schleusen-Bingo" in snow and ice. (No longer available online.) In: NDR 1 Welle Nord . NDR , March 11, 2013, archived from the original on March 13, 2013 ; accessed on March 14, 2013 : “So that at least one of the two large chambers is available again in two weeks, a functional lock chamber should be created from the two defective lock chambers. For this, several lock gates are to be exchanged for one another. "
  20. Disaster for shipping . In: Daily port report of March 8, 2013, pp. 1–3
  21. Defective locks paralyze the NOK for large ships . In: Hansa , Heft 4/2013, p. 62, Schiffahrts-Verlag Hansa, Hamburg 2013, ISSN  0017-7504
  22. Canal scandal: on-site meeting with Ramsauer. (No longer available online.) In: NDR 1 Welle Nord . NDR , March 8, 2013, archived from the original on March 8, 2013 ; Retrieved March 13, 2013 .
  23. ↑ The Kiel Canal, the bottleneck . In: Handelsblatt . No. 77 , April 22, 2013, ISSN  0017-7296 , p. 7 .
  24. ↑ The Kiel Canal is now free again. (No longer available online.) In: NDR 1 Welle Nord . NDR , March 14, 2013, archived from the original on March 17, 2013 ; accessed on March 14, 2013 .
  25. NOK Newsletter No. 222 of March 14, 2013, Brunsbüttel Waterways and Shipping Office
  26. Charlotte Frank: Scots close to the Kiel Canal . Report on sueddeutsche.de from March 7, 2013, accessed on March 12, 2013
  27. New construction of the 5th lock chamber in Brunsbüttel. (PDF, 2766 kB) (No longer available online.) Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration , September 27, 2012, archived from the original on December 3, 2013 ; Retrieved March 13, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.wsa-brunsbuettel.wsv.de
  28. Construction of the canal lock will probably be more expensive. (No longer available online.) In: NDR 1 Welle Nord . NDR , March 13, 2013, archived from the original on March 15, 2013 ; accessed on March 14, 2013 : "if the construction contract is sealed by spring 2014, the work would probably last until 2021"
  29. Wolfhart Fabarius: Much later, much more expensive . In: Daily port report of October 12, 2018, p. 1/2
  30. ^ Penetration of the Holstein isthmus between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea , Schleswig 1863, p. 39
  31. ^ The Kiel Canal: the expressway across Schleswig-Holstein
  32. Newspaper report June 26, 1895
  33. Uli Jung, Martin Loiperdinger (ed.): History of documentary film in Germany. Volume 1: Empire (1895-1918) . Reclam, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-15-030031-2 , p. 68
  34. Brockhaus' Konversationslexikon , Volume 10, FA Brockhaus, Leipzig 1908, p. 31. - Newspaper report on canal operation from July 1, 1895
  35. ^ W. Langes: Car ferries in Germany from 1900. Nord-Ostsee-Kanal / Kiel-Kanal. Retrieved March 10, 2014 .
  36. ^ Winston S. Churchill: The Gathering Storm: Vol 1: The Second World War . 1985, ISBN 978-0-395-41685-3 , page 369
  37. ^ Department of State Publication - Historical Office (Ed.): Foreign Relations of the United States, diplomatic papers 1945, Vol. III . Washington 1968, p. 423 .
  38. ^ Glenn P. Hastedt: Encyclopedia of American Foreign Policy . New York 2004, p. 321 .
  39. Birger Nicolai: Only a third finished: Europe's largest hydraulic construction site will be the next BER. In: www.welt.de. February 28, 2018, accessed February 28, 2018 .
  40. Frank Behling: The call for more speed . In: Hansa , issue 12/2018, p. 66/67
  41. WSA Brunsbuettel - Homepage - Info letter 18 from March 2020. Accessed on May 20, 2020 .
  42. Expansion planning for the eastern section ( Memento of the original from July 17, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.portalnok.de
  43. Milestones set on the Kiel Canal - large sea lock Kiel-Holtenau released again and planning approval decision for the eastern section issued! In: Port of Hamburg Magazine , issue 1/2014, Hafen Hamburg Marketing eV, Hamburg 2014, pp. 42/43
  44. Funding from the Federal Government for Canal Expansion (Eastern Line), June 6, 2014 ( Memento of June 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  45. 265 million euros for the NOK expansion . In: Daily port report from June 10, 2014, p. 1
  46. Waterways and Shipping Administration: expansion of the eastern route
  47. Expansion of the eastern stretch of the Kiel Canal
  48. Wolfhart Fabarius: NOK expansion is dragging on · Completion not before 2030 . In: Daily port report of September 20, 2018, p. 13
  49. Expansion of the Königsförde bottleneck is approaching. Kieler Nachrichten, February 7, 2019, accessed on February 14, 2019 .
  50. Future appearance of the lock ( memento of the original from September 15, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at wsa-kiel.wsv.de, accessed on September 15, 2017 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.wsa-kiel.wsv.de
  51. ^ Federal government builds new locks in Kiel. March 5, 2016, accessed March 5, 2016 .
  52. IMO 6826858
  53. The construction of the sandpit begins. May 16, 2018, accessed December 27, 2018 .
  54. "Enak" expands the 16 stem gates. May 15, 2018, accessed December 27, 2018 .
  55. Wolfhart Fabarius: NOK expansion is dragging on . In: Daily port report of September 20, 2018, p. 13
  56. Kiel's largest sandpit is ready. May 30, 2019, accessed June 8, 2019 .
  57. ^ Levensauer Hochbrücke: Alte Dame turns 120 ( Memento from April 6, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) NDR
  58. It's getting serious in spring. October 5, 2018, accessed December 15, 2018 .
  59. It's getting serious in spring. Retrieved March 27, 2019 .
  60. ↑ In- depth study of the NOK ( memento from July 17, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  61. Modernization of the Rendsburg Canal Tunnel
  62. ^ Frank Binder: "Initiative Kiel Canal" . In: Daily port report of December 13, 2012, p. 2
  63. MarineForum 4-2014, p 41
  64. Section VI. Regulations on the Kiel Canal. (§§ 380 to 386): full text
  65. ^ Ivan Jakubec: The last twenty (normal) months of the Czechoslovak-German trade and traffic relations (January 1937 – September 1938) . In: wbhr 2/2011, pp. 91–101 ( PDF ( Memento of the original from April 19, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / otik.uk.zcu.cz
  66. “Des Kaisers neue Kanal” , history of the channel from NDR, accessed on February 2, 2019
  67. ^ German Bundestag (ed.): Transport investment report for the reporting year 2012 . Informed by the Federal Government (=  printed matter . No. 18/580 ). Bundesanzeiger Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, February 18, 2014, ISSN  0722-8333 , p. 308 ( Online [PDF; 66.2 MB ; accessed on May 12, 2017]).
  68. Matthias Friedrichsen: Why is the Kiel Canal so important? In: NDR 1 Welle Nord . NDR , March 7, 2013, accessed March 14, 2013 .
  69. The largest ship in the canal in 2012. (No longer available online.) Nord-ostsee-kanal-info.de, archived from the original on April 7, 2013 ; Retrieved April 7, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.nord-ostsee-kanal-info.de
  70. ^ NOK: More cargo and larger ships . In: Daily port report of January 23, 2012, p. 3
  71. More ships passed the Canal in 2012 . In: Hansa , issue 3/2013, p. 7
  72. Frank Binder: Port companies confident for building the Elbe . In: Daily port report of October 29, 2014, p. 3
  73. Eckhard-Herbert Arndt: "SECA" also helps the NOK · Figures for 2014 · Still waiting times in front of locks . In: Daily port report from January 23, 2015, p. 1/2
  74. Eckhard-Herbert Arndt: Fewer ships in the Kiel Canal · Decline by 1.4 percent · But with around 155 million GT almost at the level of 2014 · More feeders again . In: Daily port report from January 5, 2016, p. 1/2
  75. Peter Kleinort: Significant decline in cargo loads in the Kiel Canal · Weak trade with China and sanctions against Russia have an effect . In: Daily port report of January 13, 2017, p. 1/2
  76. ^ Frank Behling: Difficult year on the Kiel Canal . In: Hansa , issue 2/2017, pp. 26/27
  77. Wolfhart Fabarius: Much later, much more expensive . In: Daily port report of October 12, 2018, p. 1/2
  78. Decline in cargo loads in the Kiel Canal · Annual balance sheet 2019 . In: Schiff & Hafen , issue 3/2020, p. 53
  79. a b kiel-canal.org ( Memento of the original from January 17, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kiel-canal.org
  80. Traffic groups on the NOK. (No longer available online.) Brunsbüttel Waterways and Shipping Office , archived from the original on August 26, 2011 ; Retrieved July 29, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.wsa-brunsbuettel.wsv.de
  81. Authorization to navigate the Kiel Canal (§ 42 Paragraph 1 Number 1 and Paragraph 6 SeeSchStrO) ( Memento of the original of March 9, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.elwis.de
  82. ^ Christian Litz: Pilots on the Kiel Canal: Capitalist traffic is directed by comrades , Der Spiegel, September 20, 2015.
  83. We guarantee safety through traffic monitoring and traffic analysis, Brunsbüttel Waterways and Shipping Office, accessed on July 9, 2018.
  84. The modernization of the Kiel Canal traffic safety system: Commissioning on October 7, 2006 , Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration , accessed on July 9, 2018.
  85. Hochdonn campsite
  86. https://www.wsa-kiel.wsv.de/Webs/WSA/WSA-Kiel-Holtenau/DE/1_Wasserstrasse/2_Tunnel-Bruecken-Faehren/3_Faehren/Faehren_node.html
  87. https://www.ostsee.de/ausflug/schwebefaehre.html
  88. https://www.wsa-kiel.wsv.de/Webs/WSA/WSA-Kiel-Holtenau/DE/1_Wasserstrasse/2_Tunnel-Bruecken-Faehren/2_Bruecken_Schwebefaehre/1_EHB-RD_Schwebefaehre/6_Schwebefaehre/2_Ersatzml .Ersatzml .Ersatzml
  89. ^ The canal ferry Holtenau - Wik. Retrieved February 9, 2019 .
  90. "Eurlings hapt laatste bagger uit Amsterdam-Rijnkanaal"
  91. Traffic data. Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration , May 22, 2013, accessed on December 27, 2013 .
  92. PANAMA CANAL TRAFFIC - FISCAL YEARS 2011 THROUGH 2013. (PDF; 43 kB) (No longer available online.) Panama Canal Authority , December 12, 2013, archived from the original on December 28, 2013 ; accessed on December 27, 2013 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.pancanal.com
  93. Brief Yearly Statistics ( Memento from September 29, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  94. NOK: Broken locks - record missed . In: Daily port report of January 29, 2013, p. 4

Coordinates: 54 ° 15 '  N , 9 ° 36'  E