Rhine River levels fell to a new low on Friday due to the ongoing drought in Germany and elsewhere in Europe, further restricting the distribution of coal, gasoline, wheat and other commodities amid a looming energy crisis .
The water level at Kaub, near Frankfurt, a key point where the street is shallower than elsewhere on the river, was expected to fall below 40cm on Friday afternoon, the level at which it is no longer economical for many barges to transit the river.
According to a daily bulletin from Germany’s Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration, water levels in the key waterway were at an unusually low level for this time of year, and were expected to fall by between 10 and 15 cm more over the next three or four days. .
Although the 14-day weather forecast predicts rising water levels from the middle of next week, the administration said it was unlikely to have a significant impact.
Big German companies such as BASF and ThyssenKrupp depend on the Rhine for their fuel supplies, and ships on the river also carry coal to power plants that the government has chosen to use more intensively in response to Russia strangling its supply of natural gas.
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Although ships were still able to travel on the Rhine last week, companies were forced to reduce their cargo and the ability to switch transport to rail or road is limited. A river ship can usually carry about 1,000 tons of wheat, for example, which would require about 40 trucks to move the same amount of goods.
Hans-Heinrich Witte, the chairman of the General Directorate of Waterways, told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that he hoped the Rhine would not be closed to shipping this summer.
Environmentalists also expressed concern about the cost of high water temperatures to the environment. “We have too high water temperatures, which is having a toxic effect on the inhabitants of the Rhine, on the fish, on the entire ecosystem,” climatologist Karsten Brandt told Der Spiegel.
In another development, officials in Germany and Poland expressed growing concern over a mass fish kill in the Oder River, with German Environment Minister Steffi Lemke warning of a catastrophe on Friday.
Since the end of July, tons of dead fish have been found in the river that runs through the two countries. Both sides have said they believe a toxic substance is to blame, but have yet to identify it. On Friday, German scientists reported an increased density of mercury in samples taken from the river.
“An environmental catastrophe is imminent,” Lemke told the RND newspaper group. “All parties are working thoroughly to find the reasons for this mass extinction and to minimize potential further damage.”