Low water on the Rhine 2014

[notamermaid]

Hello everyone,

 

with the current low water problems on the Danube and Elbe in mind, I would like to point out that the Rhine, although very low, reports traffic as usual in Germany. I am not up-to-date with events in the Netherlands.

 

So far there has been a short closure to traffic in the Netherlands on Sunday after the accident of the MS Britannia and a barge ran on ground near Koblenz. Both disruptions have ended.

 

Fingers crossed there will be more rain at the weekend as forecast, making navigation easier.

 

notamermaid

[wwinfl91]

Thanks for the update on the Rhine. Most of the news on low water was on the Danube.

 

Thanks again for the info.

[TravelBugM]

We are currently on the Rhine, sailing with Viking, and all is good. Our Captain is having to leave us in Cologne to assist with the issues on the Danube, but he tells us all is fine for the rest of our journey north to Amsterdam.

[Worldcrzr]

We are currently on the Rhine, sailing with Viking, and all is good. Our Captain is having to leave us in Cologne to assist with the issues on the Danube, but he tells us all is fine for the rest of our journey north to Amsterdam.

 

What ship are you on?

[TravelBugM]

We are on the Viking Tor. Currently in Koblenz.

[notamermaid]

Hello TravelBugM,

 

hope you continue to have a great journey. How do you sail without the captain, though?!

 

As you will sail through the night you wake up to the area around Bonn and have breakfast will approaching Cologne I believe. What a way to start the day. :)

 

Enjoy Cologne and remember the USA is playing Germany tomorrow!!!

 

It might be advisable not to cheer too loudly. ;)

 

notamermaid

[notamermaid]

A double barge got stuck in Cologne:

 

http://www.rundschau-online.de/koeln/havarie-auf-dem-rhein-leichter-krachte-gegen-passagierschiff,15185496,27614068.html German-only text with photos

 

 

Apparently the captain of the barge, which has an engine-driven part and another non-engine driven part that it pushes in front, tried to free the barge from the sandbank. He uncoupled the unpropelled barge which then scraped the River Cloud 2 docked at the river bank.

 

None of the passengers were hurt. The River Cloud 2 was able to sail on to her next destination Utrecht.

 

As I have mentioned before navigation is getting more and more difficult due to the lack of water. The navigation channel is narrowing.

 

notamermaid

[sammiedawg]

We are in Cologne on the Viking Lif, we were told there had been a pontoon accident and we could not dock at the normal spot next to the cathedral. However the local tour guide told us about low water level and the vessel running aground. They are currently dredging, using a crane. Our tour guide wished us luck getting out tonight.

[steamboats]

Apparently the captain of the barge, which has an engine-driven part and another non-engine driven part that it pushes in front, tried to free the barge from the sandbank. He uncoupled the unpropelled barge which then scraped the River Cloud 2 docked at the river bank.

 

A little explanation: In the US a "river freight ship" usually consists out of a towboat (just the propelling unit) and (non-propelled) barges (usually on the Upper Mississippi River and the Ohio river the number of barges is limited to 15 due to the size of locks, on the Lower Mississippi River you will find larger tows).

 

In Germany self-driven barges are more common than tows consisting out of a towboat and barges. Here it was a self-driven barge combined with a barge.

 

steamboats

[TravelBugM]

We were told that the barge that ran aground did the same last year!

 

We have a new Captain who joined us in Cologne. So all is good.

[crm911]

We are on the Emerald Sky (Evergreen Tours) at Bamberg heading to Budapest. Berthed next to us is the APT ship AMAVerde.

 

The AMAVerde has been running parallel to us every day. A lady there asked us if we had been "evicted". She explained that they have been told to pack up their bags as they will be transferred by bus tomorrow to Nuremberg and transfer to the AMABella, whose passengers will do the reverse. The reason is a "lack of water" in Main (river) - Danube Canal. APT does not want to have a ship stuck in it. Our cruise line has not made any such announcement to us, so fingers crossed that we don't have to do the same.

[CaroleSS]

crm911,

I hadn't heard that the Main was affected. Is it as low as the Danube?

 

We will spend most of our upcoming cruise on the Main, so I'm starting to get a little antsy about this!

[steamboats]

The Canal has a constant water level and is not really affected. The Main river has a lock and dam system and I haven´t heard anything about the Main river being affected so far. Of course the Main river is low too but due to the locks and dams it still should be navigable.

 

steamboats

[CaroleSS]

Thanks steamboats......you are a gem! (and a wealth of knowledge during the past week!)

 

People like you make CC the BEST!

[eedee2]

Hi crm911, Did you have to change ships?

[notamermaid]

Hello everyone,

 

I am happy to report back to inform you that we have had a substantial amount of rain over the last 24 hours making the water level on the Middle Rhine rise a few centimetres.

 

Crucial centimetres it seems. Yesterday a local newspaper reported that the vessels are starting to struggle to dock in some cases. In Andernach, close to Koblenz, a Dutch ship - De Zonnebloem - struggled to dock as the landing stages are so low in the water and the ships, when getting close to them, can hit the surrounding rock. She managed in the end. The De Zonnebloem is one of the largest ships sailing the Rhine, i.e. the size of most modern river cruise ships used by the North American companies. Ships with a draft of around 1.80 m are affected. In Andernach for example they have been allocated a different landing stage as the one normally used has become too dangerous for the large ships.

 

The Main Danube Canal as steamboats has explained, normally has enough water. Even there seem to be problems now.

 

A few days ago I saw a graph on an official government website that reported low levels on the Main. A little surprising. I can only imagine that even the lock system on the Main is struggling to keep the water at a good level for sailing.

 

I hope it has rained in Hesse and Bavaria as well (the counties or Länder, as we call them, that the Main flows through).

 

notamermaid

[steamboats]

BTW it´s raining in Munich too. And it should last on for at least 24 more hours. But I´m not sure whether this will get enough water into the rivers for a constant rise. So there might be some centimeters more for a day or two only.

 

steamboats

[crm911]

Hi crm911, Did you have to change ships?

 

No, still on the Emerald Sky. We are now in Regensburg and I just met the engineer who said he couldn't do an engine room tour as he has his hands full to prepare the ship for the low waters ahead. By that I imagine he has to adjust the ballast water. The canal's high water mark was about 30-40 cm (my visual estimate) higher than the water level, so despite having locks, there is less water in it.

 

Non-stop rain all day so far in Regensburg, but we like it that way in the circumstances.

[Canal archive]

crm911 hi Emerald Sky is a very new ship this year and most probably has much less draft than some of the other river cruisers. The Maine canal will be lower if the river systems that feed it are lower, every time a lock is used that lock full of water drops to the next level, now they most probably have a system of back pumps but whatever you do an amount of water will be sacrificed, a canal will however hold it's water much better than a river because the water is managed. To assist boat movement during low water levels they have limit their speed a tad as the faster they travel the deeper the boat is pulled into the water and more water is displaced and therefor lost along the river banks you may also note sometimes at low water levels two boats approaching each other on what would seem to be a collision course but watch as the bow wave of each boat pushes the apart, nifty, these guys are experts.

Happy cruising all.

[wwinfl91]

Does anyone have any info on Viking Longships and how they are faring with the low river and canal levels.

 

Thanks

[notamermaid]

Hello,

 

the thunderstorms on Sunday evening and the rain this morning have helped the water levels on the Rhine. The areas around the tributaries Moselle and Neckar have also seen some rain and will feed the Rhine with a good amount of water over the next three days.

 

The Main is looking a bit trickier with less rain forecast than on the Middle Rhine.

 

notamermaid

Edited July 8, 2014 by notamermaid

[papa B me]

Notamermaid

I've been following your reports on the Rhine and Danube closely as my wife and I begin our first river cruise this Sunday the 13th from Amsterdam to Basel on Uniworld's SS Antoinette. It is sounding as if things are looking much better and hopefully we should have no isses with water levels. With the rain you have had and are currently receiving can it change that quickly over the next week or so where we still may have issues or in your opinion are we in good shape for July 13-20th on the Rhine?

 

Again, your reports have been extremely helpful.

 

Brian

[Got2Cruise]

Hi I'm on my Rhine River cruise now. It rained for two days and the river gained inches. No problem now. Talk to you when I get back

[notamermaid]

Hello,

 

it has rained all morning on the Middle Rhine. Rain is forecast for tommorrow also. No problem with water levels over the next week or so.

 

Got2Cruise, it looks like your ship's sailing through the Rhine gorge will be in rain. What a pity. Nevertheless, enjoy, it is stunning!

 

What an opportunity for you to watch yesterday's World Cup game in Mainz on screen with the crowds. It was surreal, I am still speechless.

 

notamermaid

[Canal archive]

To think we were cursing the rain this winter in the UK and now those of us who will be cruising this year are rain dancing like mad, and it's working. Great game last night we enjoyed it on TV. Now watching TDF we arrive back in Paris the day it finishes, hope to keep up to date with it whilst cruising.

Happy cruising all rain or shine.