(MENAFN- Trend News Agency)
The inland river shipping industry in Germany is struggling with
low water levels, with the country hit by persistently high
temperatures and a lack of rainfall, Trend reports citing Xinhua .
'The water levels and discharges of the German federal waterways
remain at a low level,' Parliamentary State Secretary with the
Ministry for Digital and Transport Oliver Luksic told Xinhua on
Monday.
'Despite some forecasted rain, the signs point to a further
intensification of the low water this week,' warned Luksic.
Optimizing operations on the river Rhine, Europe's busiest inland
waterway, is particularly important to the ministry.
According to the federal association of German inland navigation
(BDB), around 80 percent of inland waterway freight traffic takes
place on the international route which connects the country's
western seaports with Switzerland.
Currently, ships have to carry less cargo in order to prevent
grounding. 'To compensate for this, more shipping capacity is put
into service to carry out transport orders,' a BDB spokesperson
told Xinhua.
However, the low water levels will not lead to full closure, as
can be the case with high water. 'Inland waterway transports are
carried out as long as it is physically and safely possible,' the
BDB spokesperson said.
Germany is currently being hit by a heatwave with record
temperatures. 'The prolonged drought has been quite hard on the
plants this summer. Already in mid-June there was a large water
deficit,' the country's meteorological service (DWD) said on Monday
on Twitter.
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