Anyone travelling through the Kiel Canal on a recreational craft can now pay the fees due in the new WSV-Webshop to pay. Daniela Nissen from the Directorate-General for Waterways and Shipping: "The trip is registered for a freely selectable day in the web shop, stating the boat name and boat length. Immediately afterwards, a notification of payment will be sent by email."
Once payment has been received, a code will be sent which must be presented at the controls in the Brunsbüttel and Kiel locks. This eliminates the need to dock to reach the ticket machines. However, these will continue to be available in Kiel-Holtenau.
Message from 11 April 2023
As YACHT reader Klaus R. reports from his first passage with the new online system, the system of the service provider PayOne stored in the WSV webshop (see below) does not work with all banks, for example with ING-Diba. In this case, only the prepayment system via bank transfer works.
But the much bigger problem awaits crews who want to book the passage from on board shortly before the passage. According to the reader, the ticket must be carried as a DIN A4 printout during the crossing so that it can be shown to the canal staff at the top of the canal and they can recognise it from a distance. But who has a printer on board? However, you can also use the booked ticket two days before and after purchase.
The service works via the newly established Webshop of the Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration. Crews can pay the fee for pleasure craft there, which is staggered according to boat length. You can, but do not have to, set up a user account, but you do have to leave your name, address and boat name and state the direction of travel. Payment is made via the service provider PayOne by credit card or giro card or old-school style by prepayment and bank transfer to a Bundesbank account.
This means that for the first time since the canal was built, users of the Kiel Canal can pay without having to dock and go to the payment machines in Holtenau or Brunsbüttel. If you were lucky, you could also pay at one of the ticket inspectors who sometimes came round in the evening during the season. This sometimes saved crews time, because when the harbours were full, valuable time could be lost for mooring, casting off and paying for the passage, which is important when slower yachts wanted to pass through in one go and it was still or already getting dark. Of course, crews can also pay at the payment machines on site as before.
