With 160 million tons of goods passing through it each year, it is one of the busiest rivers in the world. But in recent weeks, the number of ships plying the Rhine has dropped significantly. In question, the lack of water due to the peak heat that makes it difficult to navigate this route.
The prospect of a partial stoppage of traffic on the Rhine now poses an additional threat to the German economy, already hit by the gas crisis in Russia and the skyrocketing of energy prices after the war in Ukraine. The low water forces manufacturers to “load the boats to a third of their capacity, which has a cost,” explains Paul Tourret, director of the Higher Institute of Maritime Economy (ISEMAR), in BFM Business.
supply difficulties
Especially since the low level of the river water aggravates the energy crisis. In fact, the Rhine has regained importance in recent months because, in particular to move away from the Russian gas on which it depends, Germany wants to turn more towards coal. However, the large power plants are located mainly around the Rhine, a key river for its supply. Germany’s biggest companies have already warned that major disruptions to river traffic could deal a further blow to an economy already struggling with supplies.
The 2018 drought, in which the reference depth of the Rhine at Kaub fell to 25 centimeters in October, reduced German GDP by 0.2% that year, according to Deutsche Bank Research. “The lows came much earlier this time,” one of its economists, Marc Schattenberg, told AFP. “If the problems we’re seeing now last longer (than they did in 2018), the loss in economic value becomes much more severe,” he says.
Source: BFM TV
