Swedish naval vessel jumps Göta Canal banks

A Swedish military boat took an unexpected turn up onto shore on Saturday, startling attendees of a festival held along the shores of the Göta Canal.

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The accident occured when a Combat Boat 90 traveling at high speed attempted to perform a sudden stop in front of throngs of onlookers at Kanalfest in Söderköping in eastern Sweden.

But something went wrong during the maneuver, sending the Swedish Navy vessel up over the banks of the canal before it skidded to a stop on the ground.

“First the boat went off from the locks toward the E22 motorway bridge. Then it came back at full speed,” Fredrik Jonson, a photographer for Norrköpings Tidningar (NT), told the newspaper.

“The boat began to wobble back and forth and the bow was very low in the water. Then the boat drove right up on land on onto the canal bank.”

The boat came to rest about 50 metres from the crowd of onlookers sat at outdoor tables to watch the day’s exhibitions.

Military spokesperson Anders Kallin told the TT news agency that there were no injuries or damage to equipment as a result of the incident.

He added that an investigation has been launched to determine exactly what went wrong.