If the level at Kaub falls below 40 centimeters from the weekend, as expected, safe passage for barges will no longer be possible, the company said. In this case, operations on the Upper and Middle Rhine should be largely stopped for safety reasons.
The ship fleet on the Lower Rhine should receive containers from the Middle Rhine by truck via a land bridge – the transport capacities on the land route are limited, however. According to the Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration (WSV), the fairway depth at Kaub on Friday morning was only 1.54 meters. According to the WSV, the depth of the fairway is lower than in Kaub in the Rhein-Lahn district in any other section of the Middle and Lower Rhine. Ultimately, it is decisive for how much freight barges can still load.
According to the WSV, the particularly critical level in Kaub at Rhine kilometer 546.3 was 42 centimeters on Friday after 47 the day before. However, the water level does not indicate the actual water depth, but the difference between the water surface and the so-called zero level. Which in turn is not at the deepest point of the river bed.
Bargemen must pay attention to the draft of the ship when loading their cargo and observe a certain safety distance from the river bottom. At low water levels, they can carry less cargo.
The Federal Institute for Hydrology (BfG) recently declared that shallow inland waterway vessels could still pass the Middle Rhine route up to a water level of around 30 to 35 centimeters at the Kaub gauge. Forecasts assume water levels in the direction of 30 centimeters by the beginning of next week. Then shipping on the Rhine in this area “tends to come to a standstill,” it said.
Source: Nachrichten
