Traffic jams even happen on the water!

A broken lock chamber in Germany's Kiel Canal is causing chaos to shipping, including cruise ship transits.

The 98 kilometer (60 mile) canal, linking the Baltic to the North Sea, is the world's busiest artificial waterway and is used by ships to avoid sailing all the way around the coast of Denmark.



One of the four lock chambers on the eastbound lane became unusable on Sunday when the carriage supporting one of the gates derailed from its slide rail.

The gate is not expected to be repaired until later today (Wednesday). Long queues of cargo ships waiting to transit the canal have built up at either end and a handful of cruise ships have been affected.



Ships which transit the Kiel Canal in 2013 include Fred Olsens Balmoral and Braemar.  Hopefully the lock will be fixed by then!!