On the evening of October 21, the 70 meter long self-propelled barge Hecht (MSSI: 211496960) caught fire on the Elbe off Lauenburg, Germany. The Hecht was on a voyage from Hildensheim to Hamburg when fire broke out in the living quarters. The fire quickly engulfed the superstructure in meters high flames and spewing out dense black smoke.  Multiple fire brigades were dispatched to the scene to battle the blaze. Their combined effort were able to extinguish the fire in about an hour. The crew of the Hecht were uninjured, but the vessel sustained around 100,000 euros in damage to the barge. Reports state the cargo of  wheat grain was unimpacted by the fire.

Authorities have launched an investigation into the incident. No details on how the fire broke out on the vessel.