Freight shipping on the river Rhine in Germany has returned to its normal pace after raining heavily in the past week, which caused the water levels to rise, according to Reuters.
Namely, water levels on the Rhine have seen the lowest water level in more than a decade for the time of year, raising obstacles to fuel supplies to Europe. Rhine’s water lever is at its lowest level for mid-October since 2006.
Consequently, the low water levels combined with high temperatures decreased the water even more, restricting navigation on the river and forcing refineries and industrial plants to reduce production.
Moreover, in the past the low water levels of river Rhine affected Germany’s shipping. To this result, in order to avoid any restrictions on Germany’s waterways, 24.5 billion euros were invested in projects such as the deepening of the riverbed of the Rhine.
However, according to one grains trader who quoted to Reuters, the heavy and repeated rain concluded to the normalisation of sea water levels. Now, vessels are able to take full loads to German terminals when voyaging through the river.
Finally, the Rhine is an major transport route for commodities including grains, minerals, coal and oil products such as heating oil.
