Two excursion boats overtook a cruise ship with 250 passengers in Budapest and almost collided. The incident occurred only 200 meters away from the site of the Hableány tragedy, Tények reported.
This article was originally published on our sister-site, Ungarn Heute.
An excursion boat with 250 seats was on its way on the Danube near Margaret Bridge, with an onboard camera on the bow of the boat recording the incident. The footage clearly shows that two vessels carrying 150 passengers began to overtake irregularly from the right. The first ship continued to move away from the other, but the second moved ahead and almost collided with the first.
The captain of the ship on which the video was taken said he was shocked by the incident.
I have almost 30 years of experience in navigation, but I have never seen anything like this on the Danube. Overtaking on the right is a more specific thing, there must be a reason why someone overtakes another boat on the right,”
captain Zoltán Tolnay told Tények.
In his opinion, the dangerous maneuver was not only irresponsible but also senseless. He also said that the captains of the other two boats did not use the radio and it was impossible to communicate, although it should have been mandatory.
The police have initiated infringement proceedings for violation of waterway regulations. The Hableány tragedy occurred under similar circumstances when the much smaller cruise ship was overtaken and crushed by the Viking hotel ship.
Source: Tények
Featured image via Zoltán Máthé/MTI