Cargo costs rise as low water levels hit shipping on key rivers

Low water levels caused by drought and heatwaves are limiting shipping on some of Europe's biggest rivers and pushing up transport costs.

- Julia Kollewe

The Rhine south of Duisburg in Germany, including the chokepoint at Kaub, is badly affected, forcing vessels to sail about half full.

Rainfall over the weekend caused only a moderate rise in water levels, according to commodity traders. Shallow water has prompted operators to impose surcharges on freight rates to compensate for vessels not sailing fully loaded.

Traders told Reuters that loads normally transported on one vessel were being carried on several barges.

Most of the nearly 200m tonnes of cargo shipped on German rivers each year - including coal, car parts, grain and chemicals - is transported on the Rhine, the second longest river in central and western Europe after the Danube.