The river Moselle infos and river cruising experiences

[notamermaid]

Bridges. On the Moselle they are generally relatively high when they are modern, but there are a few lower ones, old with arches. That always poses a problem. In Koblenz a bridge lost almost half of its arches when the lock was built in such a way as to bring the river to modern waterway status. I am picking up on this topic for two reasons. Firstly, an interesting article with photo that I will share later. Secondly, the fact that the Viking Herja is still docked at Koblenz, now for over 48 hours. As I understand it, she is doing the itineraries on the Moselle. I do not know details. Now the Viking Idi has arrived in Koblenz, another ship that sails on the Moselle. Not sure if they are connected "ship swap style" like the company does it on the Basel to Amsterdam itineraries on the Rhine with other ships. If you know more, folks, please share:

 

I notice that neither of them are at the Viking Steiger, that is Viking's own landing stage. I guess this will soon be occupied by the B to A itinerary ships.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Correction of the info on the ship accident. The tanker did not hit another ship. They passed each other near the bridge. The ship will remain in Cochem and does not hinder traffic on the river.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[notamermaid]

The river levels have fallen really well, Trier gauge is at 496cm. The Saar river is right down to good levels, that is below flood vigilance, albeit still above the mean. This was the scenario on the Saar at Fremersdorf:

 

Good to see the ships sailing on the Moselle River, quite busy on the ship tracker websites today.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Flooding is a challenge and when river cruising is not suspended, navigation as such is still okay, there is the problem with the headroom under bridges. On the Moselle there are a few bridges as candidates for problems. In Cochem we have seen that one bridge is fairly high but the challenge are its arche in the strong current. At Koblenz there is a bigger issue. Here is an article with photo of ship and arch:

https://www.blick-aktuell.de/Berichte/Hochwasser-Treibgut-stellt-Schifffahrt-vor-Herausforderungen-591588.html

Admittedly, the ship does not need to sail that arch, as it is the docking area. That bridge has been altered so that ships can pass under it. The article talks of the challenge of debris coming down the river and getting caught in the anchor chains and potentially damaging the hull. The solution was docking on the Rhine instead. I commented on that river being busier than usual at Koblenz and that is at least part of the explanation. In this photo (text says that the flooding has reached Koblenz) we see the ship from a different angle and, my, is the Moselle dirty and fast!

https://www.blick-aktuell.de/Berichte/Mosel-Hochwasser-erreicht-Koblenz-591586.html

 

Ships that were due to sail the Moselle obviously had to wait at Koblenz or re-route while the river was impassable.

 

Let us have a look at the flooding and the situation at the bridges in this video:

 

The camera travels from the Staustufe (lock and dam) downstream towards the mouth. First comes the Europabrücke, a modern road bridge - no problem. But at the bridge is the approach to the embankment called Peter-Altmeier-Ufer. That is where the river cruise ships dock further on. That road stretch is flooded. At 1:40 you can see all three bridges. The second is the railway bridge where on the left the arches are a challenge for the ships. It is the approach to the lock. The third bridge is the Balduinbrücke. You recognize the photo shot through the arches onto the Arosa river cruise ship I posted with the article. On the left the Balduinbrücke had its arches removed. I find it fascinating how the drone has captured so well the difference in colour of the two rivers. They almost always differ in colour but with the Moselle flooding the difference is more dramatic.

 

And if you wanted to go on an excursion from Koblenz to Winningen for a wine tasting that would have proved a challenge. The roads where flooded.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[notamermaid]

A bit more on the docking at Koblenz on the Moselle. There is another area where river cruise ships can anchor, it is at Rauental. From what I recall seeing this is not exactly what I regard as a prime location or even just an attractive area of the city. But it has been a long time since I was in the vicinity. On marinetraffic.com it looks like this:

 

The MS Elegant Lady is there tonight. On the right in the photo you can see the lock and dam. I have seen river cruise ships dock there on occasion in the past, but I have no idea why they do not dock close to the standard area at Balduinbrücke.

 

On the left bank of the Moselle is the marina, quite a nice spot, with a small restaurant and hotel. On the right is the home of the Koblenzer Ruderclub Rhenania, i.e. close to where the MS Elegant Lady is docked. I think I should consider this spot for a cup of coffee next time I am in the vicinity...

 

notamermaid

 

 

[notamermaid]

Just a brief mention - the river has much improved and looks to have quite a bit of room now for rain that may be coming next week. The gauges in France (Grand Est) are all on green so looking good there as well. This is the graph at Metz, much improved since that huge wave a good week ago:

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

And just to complete the picture, the Saar is down from a ridiculously high level to a more normal level:

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

While the Moselle is doing okay and the Saar is down to almost normal, the clearing up is still happening along the Saar river and some roads are still closed. The Saar river is navigable at this level but due to the debris the authorities have unexpectedly decided to keep the river traffic ban in place until Friday. A sonar ship is evaluating the navigation channel: https://www.sr.de/sr/home/nachrichten/panorama/saar_weiter_fuer_schiffsverkehr_gesperrt_100.html

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

The tanker stranded at Cochem and occupying the Viking landing stage has finally left, equipped with emergency repairs and a rather odd-looking wheelhouse.

 

We will see higher river levels due to the rain that has set in, but as of now the river is so low at Trier that the modelling shows no flooding in the next 48 hours. On the Rhine this looks a little different.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

As of yesterday, sections of the Saar were still closed to river traffic. The sonar ship "Mosel" is still checking the river bed for shallow areas. The authorities have set the depth of the navigation channel at 3 metres. Some spots still have too much sand and gravel and the depth is not guaranteed yet so they keep working. A short video in German: https://www.sr.de/sr/home/nachrichten/panorama/saarschifffahrt_nach_hochwasser_in_teilabschnitten_wieder_frei_100.html

 

The Moselle river is fine as regards level and so thankfully does not contribute to the flooding on the Rhine.

 

notamermaid