A 75-foot-wide, 25,344-ton cruise ship holding more than 1,000 passengers made history in Greece on Wednesday as it became the largest ship to pass through the Corinth Canal.
The video below show the MS Braemar cruise ship barely squeezing through the tight passage as its more than 1,200 passengers and crew could reach out and touch the sides of the canal — 78 feet wide at its narrowest point.
Owned by the UK-based Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, the 645-foot-long cruise ship received assistant from a tugboat to avoid bumps along the way.
In an official announcement, Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines Director of Product and Customer Services Claire Ward said: “This is such an exciting sailing and tremendous milestone in Fred Olsen’s 171-year history and we are thrilled to have been able to share it with our guests.”
The four mile long Corinth Canal separates mainland Greece from the Peloponnesian peninsula and connects the Corinthian and Saronic Gulfs.
The canal saves the 430 mile journey around the Peloponnese, but remains too narrow for modern ocean freighters, as it can accommodate ships only of a width up to 58 feet and draft up to 24 feet.
Ships pass through the canal only one convoy at a time on a one-way system while larger ships — such as the record-breaking MS Braemar — require towing assistance from tugs.
The canal mainly caters to tourist ships, accommodating approximately 11,000 per year.
