As the longest drought in decades has hit Northwest European countries drying out river waterways, cargo traffic is significantly disrupted with vessels being forced to carry lighter loads. However, on German Rhine, freight is being delivered despite shallow water, the association of German inland waterways shipping companies BDB informed.
The Rhine, which is an important shipping route for commodities including grains, minerals, coal and oil products including heating oil, is too shallow for normal sailings from Duisburg to south Germany, traders said on Monday, while all of the German section of the Danube is too shallow for full loads, they added.
On the Rhine, by far Germany’s most important inland waterway, river vessels can, depending on area, often only transport half of their normal loads, sometimes even less. This demands considerable extra effort by the inland waterways shipping industry. Consignments which could normally be transported with a single sailing, must for example be divided among several vessels,
…BDB was quoted as saying by Reuters, adding that supplies to industry are being delivered.
In dialogue with our customers the inland waterways ship operators have found solutions which means transport contracts are fulfilled.
However, operators are reportedly adding price surcharges to freight contracts, as a result from the situation.
Last week, the Dutch association for logistical companies warned of a potential shortage of bulk supplies due to drought, as the summer of 2018 looks set to overtake 1976 as the driest one on record in the Netherlands, with almost no rain for two months and currently not expected until well into August.
