Low water due to drought: In a few days, the Rhine will become impassable near Kaub

According to the Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration, the level in Kaub near Koblenz will reach the critical depth of 40 centimeters in the early morning of August 12 and will drop to 38 centimeters during the course of the day.

At this level, barges can no longer navigate the river.

37 centimeters are predicted for the following day.

The lack of water, a consequence of the climate crisis, exacerbates the war-related bottlenecks in the energy supply, which are already causing problems for industry and consumers.

Companies such as the chemical group BASF SE and the steel producer Thyssenkrupp AG depend on the river for the delivery of fuel and raw materials.

While companies will still be able to ship to factories and power plants by road or rail, these modes of transport are significantly more expensive, putting pressure on profit margins.

The Rhine is fed by meltwater from the Alps and rainwater, whereby the retreat of the glaciers has already been felt in recent years.

According to the Federal Weather Service, the below-average snowfall last winter has further aggravated the situation this year.

Inland shipping becomes unprofitable

When the level at Kaub reaches 40 centimeters or less, it becomes uneconomic for most barges to proceed.

The low water has been hampering shipping for weeks as it limits the transport capacity of the ships.

Some ships are specially designed for shallow waters, so traffic will not come to a complete standstill.

The measured water level does not indicate the actual depth of the river, but serves as a crucial indicator for navigability.

Further downstream, Thyssenkrupp monitors the water levels near Duisburg.

The current depth of the river there is 171 centimetres, with 150 centimeters considered to be the value that makes transporting materials such as coking coal and iron ore by barge uneconomical.

For inland shipping, low water levels mean that ships can take less cargo to prevent grounding, as the Association of German Inland Shipping (BDB) explains.

In order to fulfill their delivery orders, the barge operators have to put additional cargo ships into operation.

"Demand from industry, agriculture, the energy sector and trade for shipping space is currently very high anyway," explains the BDB.

The low water aggravates the situation.

For the industry, low water is a cost item: If a ship cannot sail with full load due to imminent grounding, the reduced earnings can be calculated in part as so-called small water surcharges, explains Jörg Belz, deputy head of the hydrometry and hydrological assessment department at the Federal Institute for Hydrology.

If the trip is still not worthwhile, "the skipper will usually forego the trip".

The Federation of German Industries is already warning of bottlenecks.

"German industry sees the danger that the low water levels will further reduce capacities in inland shipping, which is already heavily used." The situation could "quickly deteriorate".

The industry association is calling for a “crisis resilience plan for coming droughts” and the release of budget funds for infrastructure expansion.

Deepening of the fairways required

According to the Binnenschifffahrtsverband, deepening of the fairways in the Rhine and Danube would be particularly necessary.

Then inland waterway transport could be better planned and implemented in the future, even at low water.

In particular, a deepening of the Middle Rhine by 20 centimeters between Mainz and St. Goar in Rhineland-Palatinate and the deepening of the Danube by around 20 centimeters on two river sections in Bavaria should be mentioned.

With the traffic light coalition, the association should actually have an active partner at its side to implement these projects: "We want to increase the share of shipping in freight transport and also strengthen hinterland connections," says the coalition agreement.

The amount of goods transported by ship in Germany has fallen in recent years: from a high of around 249 million tons in 2007 to around 195 million tons last year.

Nevertheless, almost all river development projects in the Federal Transport Routes Plan 2016 did not get past the planning stage, according to the inland navigation operators.

The start of construction or even commissioning are "decades away".

The inland navigation association has not heard any encouraging signals from the current government: Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) has planned a reduction in the waterway budget by around 360 million euros from 2023, says BDB Managing Director Jens Schwanen.

"So nothing will happen with the shifting of goods to the water and the achievement of climate protection goals in Germany and Europe."