HAMBURG, Aug 14 (Reuters) – Water levels on the river Rhine in Germany have fallen to new lows as Europe’s heatwave continues, the country’s inland navigation agency said on Friday, and freight is being transferred to land transport as most ships still sailing can only be part-loaded.
• German companies report growing disruption from low Rhine water levels which hinder or even stop some shipping, with chemical producers, utilities, steelmakers and agricultural traders warning of higher costs, transport bottlenecks and curbed production.
• Inland navigation agency WSV said the navigable water depth at the chokepoint of Kaub near Koblenz was 10 cm on Friday, below the previous lowest recorded level of 25 cm in 2018. The river is about 1 metre deeper than the navigable depth.
• Many ships are no longer sailing past Kaub because of fears for safety from shallow water, commodity traders said. There is no set rule about when Kaub sailings stop.
• Sailings on northern sections of the river continue often only 20% full or less with high prices demanded, traders said. Loads must be spread among several vessels sailing part-loaded, increasing costs.
• More freight is being transferred to land transport, container logistics and river shipping group Contargo said.
• “Additional rail services are being operated, extra trucking capacity is being deployed, and terminals on the Lower Rhine are increasingly being used as logistics hubs,” Contargo said. “We are fighting for every container and doing everything possible to keep our customers’ supply chains moving. When one mode of transport reaches its limits, we shift capacity to other modes and combine inland shipping, rail and road transport.”
• It added: “Our captains decide from day to day whether, and on which sections of the Rhine, it is still possible and practical to operate their vessels.”
• The Rhine is an important route for shipping commodities including grains, minerals, ores, coal and petrol.
(Reporting by Michael Hogan in HamburgEditing by Philippa Fletcher)
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