The passenger ship Altona ran aground in Elbe River near Hamburg, due to the the low tide and navigation error of the duty officer on board. The passenger ship was operating on regular route from Blankenese to Neuenfelde, when the ship hit mud bank and stand in position without availability to refloat. During the accident there are no serious damages of the hull, as the crew reported that there is no water ingress. However the ship Altona stayed during the whole day agrounded. On board of the ship there were 30 passengers, who stayed on board and spent about 1 day in such position before being refloated and tugged to the HADAG-pier, where was berthed for inspection and repair. The port authorities are investigation the reason of the accident, but the shipowner will have to pay all the expenses for refloating and salvage operations of the ship.
The passenger ship Altona has length of 26.00 m and beam of 7.00 m. The vessel is small operating on cruises in Elbe River and has no international registration.