Lorry Trans

Main Menu

  • Home
  • Trucking
  • Cargo
  • Shipping Transport
  • Air Freight
  • Capital

Lorry Trans

Header Banner

Lorry Trans

  • Home
  • Trucking
  • Cargo
  • Shipping Transport
  • Air Freight
  • Capital
Air Freight
Home›Air Freight›How the mighty Rhine threatens to leave Germany dry

How the mighty Rhine threatens to leave Germany dry

By Michael K. Davidson
April 3, 2022
0
0

From the top of the picturesque town of Kaub, Gutenfels Castle overlooks a choke point for the German economy.

Kaub sits at the shallowest point of the Rhine – the river and vital trade artery that runs from Switzerland to the Netherlands, through the heart of Teutonic industry.

A period of drought has reduced the water depth in this region of western Germany to crisis levels, at which barges are forced to reduce the size of their cargo or risk running aground.

Now Germany’s most important shipping route could be snuffed out, in a repeat of 2018’s “extreme low water” event – with devastating effects for downstream manufacturers, at a time when supply chains have already been ravaged by Covid and the war in Ukraine.

“It’s definitely a logistical headache,” says Olivier Lejeune, a Paris-based analyst who monitors water levels in the Rhine.

According to Holger Schmiedling, an economist at Berenberg Bank, sustained low water levels would hit the chemical industry particularly hard, causing Germany’s GDP to fall by 0.3% in the “worst-case scenario”.

Stretching 766 miles, the Rhine is the second longest river in Central and Western Europe. Passing through Lake Constance on the border of Germany, Switzerland and Austria, to the Hook of Holland, it crosses major cities such as Strasbourg, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Basel and Rotterdam. Kaub is about halfway there.

It also feeds the rivers passing through eastern France and further into eastern Germany, creating a rich vein for river transport. According to the Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine (CCNR), based in Strasbourg, it is used daily by thousands of ships, making it one of the busiest inland waterways in the world.

Related posts:

  1. Taiwan’s China Airlines says pilot quarantines will impact cargo operations
  2. Air Cargo Container Market Forecast to 2027
  3. Air Cargo Unit Loading (ULD) Device Market Report 2021 by Global Key Players, Types, Applications, Countries, Size, Forecast Till 2027
  4. US and Canadian pilots’ unions fight over Cargojet and fatigue rules

Recent Posts

  • Four new airlines request air service to Uganda
  • Capital Bancorp (NASDAQ:CBNK) cut to “hold” at Zacks Investment Research
  • Trucker driving too fast caused wreckage with diesel spill that closed I-78 lanes, cops say
  • The Boeing Starliner docks at the station for cargo and test operations – Space Station
  • Air Cargo and Freight Market Demand and Future Scope with Russia-Ukraine Crisis Impact Analysis – CH Robinson Worldwide Inc, Kuehne + Nagel International

Archives

  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021

Categories

  • Air Freight
  • Capital
  • Cargo
  • Shipping Transport
  • Trucking
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy