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“Honey, come out of the house, there’s a ship going by!” – unusual words that have probably been spoken often in central Switzerland in the past few days. Reason: The ship “MS Schwyz” moves from Lake Zug to Lake Walen.
For the residents of the city of Zug, there was an unusual spectacle on Tuesday night: Imagine you are standing at the window at home and a ship is passing you on the street at a distance of 5 centimeters. Nonsense? It’s probably the most complex move in 25 years, as the move’s project manager, Stefan Kloter, explains. Of course, such an order is not an everyday occurrence.
Reining in on a large scale: the dewatering
“How special the event is can also be seen from the many onlookers along the way.” There are more people on the streets of Zug than at Carnival, the Walensee shipping company wrote in a statement.
Many road signals removed
Many took a souvenir photo and there were also funny scenes. “Darling, come out of the house quickly, there’s a ship going by” – these were the words a resident spoke to his wife on the phone.
And an observer on the side of the road told SRF: “This is a special moment for me – we celebrated our wedding aperitif on this ship.”
The streets are 7 meters wide – as is the ship.
The challenge of transport across the Hirzel is similar to that in the city. In some cases there are very narrow passages, lots of onlookers and road signs such as light signals, boards, etc., which have to be removed. “The streets are 7 meters wide – so is the ship,” says Stefan Kloter.
The highway would not have been an option. With a total height of 5.60 meters, it is not possible to drive under bridges. To ensure that Kloter and his team were not hit by “nasty surprises,” the entire operation was of course precisely calculated and simulated in advance by computers.
Reining in on a grand scale: ride through the city center Zug
Walensee and Lake Zug Shipping are convinced that the ship is in better hands on Lake Walen. The MS Schwyz was sailing on Lake Zug for 25 years. And it was used less and less, explains Philipp Hofmann, Head of Lake Zug Shipping. In addition to the scheduled boat trips, there are many extra trips on Lake Zug. “The MS Schwyz is not very suitable for this. In the end she was often in port as a ship and was no longer needed. Now we are happy to have found a further use.”
I’m getting a new ship for my 40th year of service.
And so the time had come this Thursday at noon: the journey of the MS Schwyz was over – the destination in Weesen was reached without any damage. The relief felt by those responsible is huge, says Markus Scherrer.
Legend:
The journey from Zug to Weesen takes four days for the motor ship
SRF
But there won’t be a big celebration today: “We’re all happy that the ship is in the water. Now we would like to go to bed at a normal time again,” says the chief captain.
Ship gets a new name
In order to be able to close the roads, the transport mostly traveled at night. And something else will change after arrival. The name of the ship. The MS Schwyz will be renamed – but the ship’s new name is not yet clear, says Scherrer.