A stranded cargo ship halted traffic on the Rhine in western Germany on Wednesday after suffering a technical failure, authorities said, at a time when water transport was already suffering from a drought.
The ship is stuck in St. Goar and Oberwesel, between the cities of Mainz and Koblenz, the river police said, adding that they expect to evacuate the wrecked ship within the day.
The engine failure came as water levels in the Rhine had dropped to critical points at several points, including nearby Kaub – a well-known shipping bottleneck where the river runs narrow and shallow.
The level in Kaub on Wednesday was 34 cm (13 inches) well below the 40 cm reference point.
While the ships can still sail when the water level is low, they have to reduce their cargo to avoid running aground.
Around four percent of goods in Germany are transported on waterways, including the Rhine, which originates in Switzerland and flows through several countries, including France and Germany, before emptying into the sea in the Netherlands.
Traffic on the Rhine has gained in importance in recent months because, among other things, coal is transported on the Rhine, which is now all the more necessary as Germany wants to wean itself from Russian gas.
Germany’s biggest companies have already warned that major disruptions to river traffic could deal another blow to an economy already plagued by logistical difficulties.
The 2018 drought, which saw the depth of the Rhine in Kaub drop to 25 cm in October, caused German GDP to shrink by 0.2 percent that year, according to Deutsche Bank Research.
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