Operation
There are detailed traffic rules for the canal. Each vessel in passage is classified in one of six traffic groups according to its dimensions. Larger ships are obliged to accept pilots and specialised canal helmsmen, in some cases even the assistance of a tugboat. Furthermore, there are regulations regarding the passing of oncoming ships. Larger ships may also be required to moor at the bollards provided at intervals along the canal to allow the passage of oncoming vessels. Special rules apply to pleasure craft.
While most large, modern cruise ships cannot pass through this canal due to clearance limits under bridges, MS Norwegian Dream has special funnels and masts that can be lowered for passage. Swan Hellenic's Minerva, Fred Olsen Cruises' ship Balmoral, Oceania Cruises' Regatta, and MS Prinsendam of Holland America Line are able to transit the canal.
The German Navy’s sail training barque Gorch Fock was designed to allow lowering of the tops of her masts (stepping), specifically for the vessel to navigate Kiel Canal – otherwise the ship would be too tall for several bridges spanning the waterway.
Maximum length for ships passing the Kiel Canal is 235.50 metres (772.6 ft); with the maximum width of 32.50 metres (106.6 ft) these ships can have a draught of up to 7.00 metres (22.97 ft). Ships up to a length of 160.00 metres (524.93 ft) may have a draught up to 9.50 metres (31.2 ft). The bulker Ever Leader is considered to be the cargo ship that to date has come closest to the overall limits.
Read more about this topic: Kiel Canal
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“You may read any quantity of books, and you may almost as ignorant as you were at starting, if you don’t have, at the back of your minds, the change for words in definite images which can only be acquired through the operation of your observing faculties on the phenomena of nature.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)