Germany's Rhine could become impassable soon

Germany's inland shipping association has warned that the Rhine River — Europe's most important inland commercial waterway — could soon be effectively split in two for freight as water levels plunge amid persistent hot weather across large parts of Europe this summer.

The association said the water gauge at a crucial freight bottleneck could drop into single digits this week, a threshold that would force vessels to carry drastically lighter loads or halt transits altogether, Germany's Deutsche Welle, or DW, news service reported.

Jens Schwanen, managing director of the Federal Association of German Inland Navigation, told Rheinische Post newspaper that, at such levels, ships would no longer be able to move goods reliably along the river's full length, threatening supply chains that depend on the Rhine.

"Commercial shipping will no longer be able to transport goods in the region at such low water levels," Schwanen said.

Excursion boats and river cruises would also be affected, he added.

"In principle, the Rhine would then no longer be continuously navigable and would be divided into two," Schwanen said.

The association said shipping between the ports of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Antwerp into parts of North Rhine-Westphalia, roughly as far as Cologne, would still be possible.

South of Cologne, traffic could continue on tributaries and connected waterways, including the Neckar, Moselle, Main, and Main-Danube Canal, it said.

Several points on the Rhine in North Rhine-Westphalia recorded historic low-water levels on the weekend, after weeks of dry weather and scant rainfall across the river's catchment area.

Freight vessels are already carrying much lighter loads, pushing up transport costs for industries that depend on bulk cargo, said the association.

Elsewhere in Europe, the rivers Seine and Danube are also running low, disrupting transport, irrigation, and energy production.

There have been four heat waves in Western Europe since May, and the region experienced its hottest June and July on record, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service.

During this two-month period, the region's average temperature reached 21.6 C, breaking the previous record set in 2022.

According to the Copernicus Climate Change Service, the figure reflects an "exceptional persistence of heat" in Western Europe, where the temperatures have driven prolonged drought, major wildfires, and broken national records.

Europe, the world's fastest-warming continent, still saw considerable variation, with Eastern Europe and Scandinavia experiencing much cooler conditions.

Across Europe as a whole, July was only the 11th warmest on record, with an average temperature of 20.5 C.

"Persistent high-pressure systems trapped heat over Western Europe, the extreme temperatures also amplified widespread drought," said Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, which operates Copernicus.

"As soils dry out, they lose their ability to provide natural cooling, allowing heat to build more readily," she added. "This is a clear example of how climate change is intensifying heat extremes, with heat and drought increasingly reinforcing one another."

jonathan@mail.chinadailyuk.com