Ships shun Rhine as water level plummets near Cologne

River traffic had almost petered out on the Rhine by the German city of Cologne on Thursday due to historic low water levels in the current drought.

"Shipping will come to a halt of its own accord," Markus Neumann, regional manager with the Rhine Waterways and Shipping Authority, told dpa. Although ships are still permitted to sail, it is hardly worth it for anyone to continue doing so, he added.

It was striking how long the gaps between ships had been during the morning on the otherwise busy river, said Neumann.

A dpa reporter confirmed the almost complete absence of freighters on the busiest inland waterway in Germany and Europe as a whole, connecting industrial hubs to major international ports like Rotterdam.

According to Neumann, the external watermarks on the ships show that almost all of the handful of vessels still sailing near Cologne are empty.

Currently, a new historic low water levels are being set daily at the Cologne gauge. On Thursday lunchtime, a water level of 49 centimetres was recorded.

According to the agency's latest forecast, the water level in Cologne could reach 47 centimetres on Sunday.

That would be 22 centimetres less than the previous historic low of 69 centimetres recorded on October 23, 2018, before this summer's severe drought.

"That's not just a little bit under the lowest point - it's actually taken a proper nosedive," said Neumann.

Not enough water for many ships

The navigation channel is, admittedly, considerably deeper than the water level at the bank - a full 1.11 metres deeper in Cologne, for example.

With a water level of 47 centimetres, that would mean a total of 1.58 metres in the navigation channel.

Neumann points out, however, that ships should have at least 20 centimetres of water beneath their keels to prevent them from running aground due to the wake of other vessels.

"1.38 metres - most ships already have that much when they're empty," said the expert.