As hot and dry weather has taken hold across Europe, water levels in the Rhine have fallen to their lowest in nearly 150 years, threatening trade.
The water level at Kaub, a major crossing point for vessels heading to southern Germany and Switzerland, fell to 24 centimetres on Monday – the lowest level since records began in 1880 – according to data from the German Federal Office compiled by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich.
The fall in the Rhine’s water level has triggered a record rise in freight rates, as vessels are forced to reduce their loads to navigate the shallow waters. The cost of transporting diesel fuel from Rotterdam to Karlsruhe has reached its highest level since 2009 due to difficulties in passing through the Kaub bottleneck.
However, should companies manage to find alternative supply routes, including rail, these higher costs put at risk the competitiveness of European industry compared with its rivals in Asia and North America.
The fourth heatwave to hit Western Europe this summer is set to continue through the start of this week and has caused the Rhine and other major waterways, including the Danube, to run dry, disrupted power grids and triggered large-scale forest fires.
