Rhine Drought Threatens to Split German Shipping Route

Water levels on the Rhine River, a critical artery for German industry, have fallen to near-record lows due to weeks of drought, threatening to halt commercial shipping on a key stretch and effectively split the waterway in two. At the Kaub gauge, a major navigation bottleneck between Mainz and Koblenz, the water level stood at around 16 centimeters on Monday, according to the Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration. While the actual navigable channel is roughly a meter deeper, 40 centimeters is considered the minimum for standard commercial vessels at this location.

The Federal Association of German Inland Shipping warned that water levels at Kaub are forecast to drop into single digits for the first time this week. This would make the river impassable for commercial traffic along its entire length, dividing it into two separate navigable zones. Shipping would continue between the North Sea ports of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Antwerp and the Cologne region, while further south, traffic would operate on tributaries like the Main, Moselle, and Neckar rivers and the Main-Danube Canal. Between these sections, cargo would need to be transferred to trucks and freight trains.