Dusseldorf. The Rhine is recovering – slowly. At the Kaub gauge, the bottleneck of Rhine navigation, the water level recently fell below zero. However, the Federal Institute of Hydrology expects a slight increase, single-digit centimeter values, in the coming days. The situation therefore remains tense for inland shipping and river industry.
According to a joint survey by the Cologne Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IHK) along the Rhine, 78 percent of companies report higher costs, 72 percent are changing their logistics and almost one in three companies is limiting production. 13 percent even see their location on the Rhine at risk.
There is a lack of abundant rainfall in the Rhine catchment area. “Shipping continues to be available to its customers as a service provider; however, they can only sail with significantly less cargo,” said Fabian Spieß, deputy managing director of the Federal Association of German Inland Shipping (BDB). Shipping will continue as long as it is safe to do so. Ferry operations and passenger shipping are also feeling the effects of the dryness and are partially reducing operations.
How quickly the low water level becomes a problem was recently shown in Düsseldorf. Mercedes has a large Sprinter factory there, and some of the vans are shipped across the Rhine. Last Monday, a cargo ship loaded with Mercedes Sprinters got stuck in the port of Düsseldorf. Shipping traffic on the Rhine or in the harbor was not affected because the ship was only blocking one harbor basin. The freighter was recovered on Tuesday.
The situation also remains tense in a particularly sensitive section of the river: between St. Goar and Mainz, the route is considered the “bottleneck” of Rhine shipping. The water level in Kaub temporarily fell below zero over the weekend and thus reached a historic low.
A look at the importance of the river shows how great the impact is: According to the responsible federal authority, the Rhine is one of the busiest waterways in the world. Hundreds of ships usually pass through cities on the Rhine such as Mainz and Cologne every day.
Companies based there use the river as a transport route and cooling water reservoir, such as the chemical company BASF in Ludwigshafen. It's not just the Rhine that is affected by the drought: shipping traffic was also stopped in parts of Lake Constance on Thursday.
The Federal Institute of Hydrology and the Waterways and Shipping Administration expect water levels in Cologne and Kaub to rise again next weekend. However, the inland shipping association warns that short-term recovery will not solve the basic problem.
This requires the fairway to be deepened by 20 centimeters. This has been planned between St. Goar and Mainz for many years. The project continues to drag on. In addition, according to the association, the Federal Ministry of Transport should ask itself what measures there are to permanently hold more water in the river system. In addition, it is necessary to intensify the promotion of low-water-optimized ships.
