Rhine River water levels are on track to fall to critically low levels again this summer, as extreme heat scorches parts of Europe, testing energy and transport networks.
The marker at Kaub — a key waypoint west of Frankfurt — is now at the lowest for the time of year in at least three decades, German federal data show. It’s potentially worse than last year, when a historic drought shriveled waterways across the continent and slowed the shipment of commodities including coal and diesel vital for industrial use.
Europe is seeing repeated instances of extreme weather amid climate change, straining infrastructure as the region recovers from an energy supply crisis. Heat is forecast to swathe large parts of Germany and the Alps through the weekend, driving up energy demand.
For industry, the situation on the Rhine is crucial. The river snakes about 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) from the Swiss Alps before to the North Sea near Rotterdam. Companies including chemicals giant BASF SE and steelmaker Thyssenkrupp AG rely on the waterway for the transport of raw materials for their plants.
Low water last year contributed to a diesel shortage in southern Germany, with barges unable to ship the usual volumes inland. Concerns of supply crunch are again emerging — Austria’s OMV AG halted diesel supply from a storage facility in Munich, while separately a fire occurred at the Bayernoil complex in the region.
Last August the water marker at Kaub fell below 40 centimeters (15.75 inches), a level at which many barges found it uneconomical to transit goods. That’s not the actual depth of the water, but rather a measure of navigability.
While the marker at Kaub is currently 1.13 meters, it has been declining steadily since mid May. It also hasn’t been this low in early July in data dating back to 1993. At shallow depths, vessels have to carry lighter loads to transit chokepoints.
Barges passing the Lower Rhine near the town of Duisburg, Germany — north of Cologne — are able to carry around 2,125 metric tons, slightly less than a full load of 2,500 tons, broker Riverlake Barging said in a report Wednesday. Those operating only in the Upper Rhine are also operating at reduced capacity.
Vessel going to the Upper Rhine are now having to sail half full, operator Interstream Barging said Tuesday.
Read more: Upper Rhine Can Only Handle Half-Full Barges as Water Levels Dip
Separately, the rate to haul some fuel to Basel in Switzerland has climbed to €59.42 ($64.68) a ton. While that’s a fraction of the rate last August — at the peak of Europe’s energy crisis — it’s the highest for the time of year since at least 2018, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
Temperatures will peak at 35C (95F) on Sunday in Frankfurt, almost 7C above normal, and will remain higher than average through next week, according to Maxar Technologies Inc. The heat will also scorch parts of the Netherlands and southwestern Spain. Prices for both natural gas and coal have trended higher in recent weeks, as summer weather brings increased demand for fuel.
--With assistance from Alaric Nightingale, Rachel Graham and Jack Wittels.
(Updates with additional details throughout.)
