Rhine Water Level Nearing 10 Centimeters? Logistics Facing Severe Emergency

[Anchor]

The heatwave and drought sweeping across Europe are drying up the Rhine River, a key waterway for European industry. As disruptions hit logistics, companies in Germany are declaring force majeure, or the inability to fulfill contracts.

This is correspondent Kwon Yeongin reporting from Paris.

[Reporter]

This is Kaub, a major logistics hub on Germany's Rhine River.

The area around Pfalzgrafenstein Castle, which used to collect tolls from ships navigating the river in the past, has turned into bare ground.

The water level at the Kaub gauge has dropped to 16 centimeters and is expected to fall to a single digit this weekend for the first time in history.

[Bernd Vogt / Mayor of Kaub (Voice) : The Kaub gauge serves as a reference point for ships navigating the Rhine. Companies transport a large amount of raw materials by ship, and the cargo volume is determined by the reading on the Kaub gauge.]

Currently, the depth of the navigable waterway is 1.29 meters, but as it continues to dry up, warnings have been issued that the shipping route will be cut off this weekend.

If this happens, the Rhine shipping route, which originates in the Swiss Alps, passes through Germany, and extends to the Netherlands, will be split in two.

Germany's industrial sector, which has major production facilities along the Rhine, is taking a direct hit.

Currently, some barges are operating carrying only 20 percent of their normal capacity.

Freight rates have also doubled compared to June.

Usually, a single ship carries the equivalent of 60 trucks, but due to a shortage of road and rail networks, there are limits to land transport.

Because of this, some companies have even gone as far as declaring force majeure.

A declaration of force majeure is a measure notified to escape liability when contractual obligations cannot be fulfilled due to natural disasters or similar events. The chemical company Covestro notified its customers that it has become difficult to deliver certain products as disruptions have occurred in raw material supply, production, and product delivery due to the dropping water level of the Rhine.

Production disruptions are spreading to major German manufacturing companies such as thyssenkrupp and BASF.

[Katharina Steltzer / Head of Agricultural Business Unit, German Company (Voice) : It is an absolute catastrophe right now. We are currently unable to deliver to processors via ships. Where possible, we are delivering by truck, but literally only where possible.]

The German meteorological agency expects the low water level issue on the Rhine to be resolved around October.

With damages from heatwaves and droughts growing not only in Germany but across Europe, projections are emerging that the European Union's total damage could reach 295 trillion won.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
Reported by Kim Hyun-jae | Video by Yeji Kim
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.