Rhine water levels fall to new lows, some ship sailings halted
Cargo barges are carrying lighter loads as low water forces cancellations and raises transport costs for industries that depend on the Rhine.
- On Monday, the federal association of German inland shipping warned that low water levels risk halting cargo traffic on a key stretch of the Rhine this week, effectively splitting the waterway into two separate zones.
- BDB managing director Jens Schwanen told the Rheinische Post that water levels at Kaub are forecast to drop into single digits for the first time due to lack of rainfall, following record-breaking heatwaves across Europe this summer.
- Schwanen said, "Commercial shipping will no longer be able to transport goods in the region at such low water levels." A sign on a Rhine ferry in Kaub reads, "Ferry suspended due to low water levels."
- German states including North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Saarland relaxed trucking curbs this weekend to ease transport bottlenecks caused by low water levels on the Rhine.
- Shipping will continue between the ports of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Antwerp, as well as on tributaries including the Main, Moselle, and Neckar rivers and the Main-Danube Canal, Schwanen noted, maintaining connections outside the affected Middle Rhine section.
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Especially in western Germany, fuel prices are currently tending to rise. And if the level levels on the Rhine continue to fall, even local supply bottlenecks will become more likely.
The depletion of the Rhine caused fuel prices to rise in GermanyLow water levels in the Rhine increase the logistical costs of transporting oil and fuel, which is already affecting prices in the western regions. The most expensive fuel is in North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse, and in Bavaria it is the cheapest.
The Rhine has been at historic lows for 50 years due to high temperatures and droughts. And for this reason the commercial transport route will soon be interrupted in the central section of the river. "Because of the lack of precipitation, during the week a single-digit value is expected for the first time [...] The article Rhine to historical minima for drought, the river divided into two: for the first time it will not be navigable continuousl…
The very low level of the Rhine begins to create serious problems for the transport of goods from Germany. Ships can no longer circulate with the usual load, and some industrial companies risk reducing their production due to the difficulties of supply.
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