By Abbas Nazil
Shipping on some of Europe’s major rivers has been severely disrupted as prolonged heatwaves and drought conditions drive water levels to critical lows, pushing up transportation costs and limiting the capacity of vessels.
The Rhine and Danube rivers—two of the continent’s most vital inland waterways—are among the most affected, with operators reporting significant reductions in cargo loads and the introduction of surcharges to offset the inefficiencies.
In Germany, sections of the Rhine River south of Duisburg and Cologne, including the critical bottleneck at Kaub, have become increasingly shallow, forcing ships to sail only partially loaded—at about half of their full capacity.
The low draft has led to increased freight costs as operators compensate for reduced volume by spreading the same load across multiple vessels.
Traders said that what would typically be transported by a single barge is now being split among several smaller, less efficient shipments.
Though recent rainfall offered a slight increase in water levels, the improvement has been marginal, and the situation remains far from normal.
With nearly 200 million tonnes of cargo transported on Germany’s rivers annually—including coal, chemicals, car parts, grains, and food—the economic ripple effects are considerable.
Inland shipping, a cost-effective and low-emission transport method, is now under pressure, threatening supply chains across various sectors.
Further east, Hungary’s stretch of the Danube River is also experiencing historically low water levels, with temperatures in Budapest recently hitting 35°C. Cargo ships on the Danube are now operating at only 30–40 percent of their normal capacity, according to Attila Bencsik, deputy president of the Hungarian Shipping Association.
He confirmed that most ships are leaving more than half of their cargo behind due to the dangerously low water, disrupting not only shipping but also agricultural transport and irrigation.
In Poland, the Vistula River has reached a record-low level in the capital, Warsaw.
With temperatures lingering above 30°C and minimal rainfall, the river—Poland’s longest—has become yet another casualty of Europe’s intensifying climate crisis.
The current crisis echoes a similar situation three years ago, when German businesses faced serious logistical challenges after drought conditions dramatically reduced water levels on the Rhine.
At the time, production delays and shortages became widespread across industries dependent on river transport.
Additionally, heatwaves have affected other critical infrastructure in the past.
During the same summer, French energy provider EDF was forced to cut output at several nuclear power plants along the Rhône and Garonne rivers because overheated water limited their cooling capacity.
These developments underscore growing concerns about the vulnerability of Europe’s transport and energy systems in the face of climate change.
As water levels continue to fall, the cost of doing business along Europe’s rivers is rising—and long-term solutions remain uncertain.
