The water level in the Rhine River in Germany fell to a new record low, significantly disrupting river freight shipping. Deutsche Welle reports, as cited by UNN.
Details
The water level in the Rhine River fell to a new record low, significantly disrupting river freight shipping, as a prolonged drought continues across much of Germany
It is reported that the water-level reading at the Kaub bottleneck near Koblenz fell to 6 centimeters (2.4 inches) on Friday evening, and stood at 8 cm early Saturday.
Before this year, the previous lowest level recorded by this gauge was 25 cm, recorded in 2018.
The gauge shows the depth relative to an assumed baseline near the riverbank, but it is an indicator of the navigable depth at this point, which is approximately one meter deeper.
Most of the cargo previously transported along the Rhine has been shifted to road and rail transport, but these modes cannot fully compensate for the large freight volumes carried by vessels.
For this reason, companies have begun reporting supply disruptions, while chemical manufacturers, utilities and steel companies are warning of rising costs, transport bottlenecks and production cuts.
We remind you
Hungarian authorities began flooding 2 barges near the "Paks" nuclear power plant to raise the water level in the Danube and ensure reactor cooling amid a severe drought.