Danube water levels 2023 and similar topics - plus tips and info

[notamermaid]

24 minutes ago, LTC said:

Had no idea that Emerald could dock downstream not far from Passau or that the bridge may

not be a problem for all ships.

This is how the official website writes it:

 

You see it reads "manche" - some.

 

At 780cm river traffic seizes.

 

Passau is now at 670cm.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Here is the website with docking locations and planned dockings at Passau:

https://www.stadtwerke-passau.de/hafen/liegeplatzeinteilung.html

Note that Lindau has been cut and inserted into the map, the place is 2.5km from Passau old town. Remember, dockings can change at short notice.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[LTC]

Thanks so much for the information notamermaid, I really appreciate this.

[Kinga dweller]

16 hours ago, LTC said:

Thanks for your info, especially on Passau. We board an Emerald cruise in Passau on Sunday which cruises to Budapest. From what I've seen of the weather it will be raining just about the entire time. Our daughters are coming with us and it's their 1st time on a river cruise, so I'm hoping this won't turn into a bus cruise.

Not sure whereabouts on the river we will cross @LTC but if you board on Sunday and us on Monday in Budapest we may both be in Vienna Wed 17/Thurs 18th otherwise I'll wave at every passing Emerald boat, just in case your on it. Have fun.

21 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Hope your river cruise and trip overall will be fabulous. What an adventure to book at short notice and travel as far as you will do.

 

Drop us a line here from somewhere on the rivers if you have time and feel like it.

 

notamermaid

 

Thanks @notamermaid all great info again and yes, if I can get this forum to work on my phone I will report in en-route.

[LTC]

7 hours ago, Kinga dweller said:

Not sure whereabouts on the river we will cross @LTC but if you board on Sunday and us on Monday in Budapest we may both be in Vienna Wed 17/Thurs 18th otherwise I'll wave at every passing Emerald boat, just in case your on it. Have fun.

Thanks @notamermaid all great info again and yes, if I can get this forum to work on my phone I will report in en-route.

Hi Kinga dweller,

Ha ha, We'll be in Vienna on Thursday and we end up in Budapest. I'll be looking for your wave and waving back! Thanks, will do and you have a fantastic cruise!

[notamermaid]

Brief news: accident on the Danube of a river cruise sailing under Swiss flag and with 190 passengers. Two injured, damage to ship amounting to over 100,000 euros.

Report from BR radio/television station in Bavaria: https://www.br.de/nachrichten/bayern/schiffsunfall-auf-der-donau-zwei-verletzte-hoher-sachschaden,Te2nNdX

 

Edit: Another report discloses that it is a Viking river cruise ship.

 

notamermaid

 

Edited May 12, 2023 by notamermaid
added info

[notamermaid]

17 hours ago, LTC said:

Thanks so much for the information notamermaid, I really appreciate this.

My pleasure. Oh, and I very much like Passau. Came down a road and round the corner in the car and there it was! Not necessarily love at first sight, but certainly "wow, must check out this place in detail" at first sight. Loved the café next to the Dom. Would very much like to visit Passau again.

 

notamermaid

 

[LTC]

59 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

My pleasure. Oh, and I very much like Passau. Came down a road and round the corner in the car and there it was! Not necessarily love at first sight, but certainly "wow, must check out this place in detail" at first sight. Loved the café next to the Dom. Would very much like to visit Passau again.

 

notamermaid

 

Passau sounds lovely! We're suppose to get there early Sunday afternoon after flying to Munich and leave late Monday afternoon, so hoping to be able to pay that cafe a visit.

[notamermaid]

The Danube at Kelheim is on flood mark I, as well as at Vilshofen. The Isar river past Munich is on flood mark I. That means there is a lot of water still coming from this big tributary and from the Bavarian Upper Danube as well. Passau level has peaked and is down to 665cm but with that high volume of water still coming the river could well rise again. The forecast does not suggest figures above 700cm though.

 

notamermaid

 

[KathyK13]

8 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Brief news: accident on the Danube of a river cruise sailing under Swiss flag and with 190 passengers. Two injured, damage to ship amounting to over 100,000 euros.

Report from BR radio/television station in Bavaria: https://www.br.de/nachrichten/bayern/schiffsunfall-auf-der-donau-zwei-verletzte-hoher-sachschaden,Te2nNdX

 

Edit: Another report discloses that it is a Viking river cruise ship.

 

notamermaid

 

The photo shows a Viking ship, unclear whether it's a stock photo or the actual ship.  Fortunately injuries were minor and were treated on board.  Apparently even though the cost of damages is high, the ship was able to continue to sail towards Vienna.

[Host Jazzbeau]

8 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Brief news: accident on the Danube of a river cruise sailing under Swiss flag and with 190 passengers.

...

Edit: Another report discloses that it is a Viking river cruise ship.

 

35 minutes ago, KathyK13 said:

The photo shows a Viking ship, unclear whether it's a stock photo or the actual ship.

As soon as @notamermaid mentioned 190 passengers, I knew it was a Viking ship.  Only they pack them in so tight.

[Microman123]

11 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Brief news: accident on the Danube of a river cruise sailing under Swiss flag and with 190 passengers. Two injured, damage to ship amounting to over 100,000 euros.

Report from BR radio/television station in Bavaria: https://www.br.de/nachrichten/bayern/schiffsunfall-auf-der-donau-zwei-verletzte-hoher-sachschaden,Te2nNdX

 

Edit: Another report discloses that it is a Viking river cruise ship.

 

notamermaid

 

In looking at Cruise Mapper right now (23:44 CDT USA), there currently are 6 Viking boats docked in Passau. Of those 6, 4 are GE cruisers going B to A (Bragi, Air, Magni & Vili), the other 2 are short cruisers, one Regensburg to B(Tor), the other (Atla) the opposite direction. If the report is correct, then the boat in the accident has to be the Tor, since it is the only one heading to Vienna from Passau. 

 

More interesting is that only the Magni and the Atla were scheduled to be in Passau on 5/12. The Tor wasn't scheduled until 5/14 according to Cruise Mapper. The Tir was scheduled 5/9, the Vili 5/10 and the Bragi 5/11 but they are still there early on 5/13! It seems that Viking may be holding up some boats for maybe a Safety conference with their captains? 

 

Any comments from anyone currently on those boats? 

Edited May 13, 2023 by Microman123

[notamermaid]

It almost certainly is the Tor, seeing that she is docked in this photo with a police car on the embankment: https://www.pnp.de/lokales/stadt-und-landkreis-passau/schiff-faehrt-bei-passau-gegen-felsen-zwei-passagiere-verletzt-11163713

 

Trying to dock at Lindau (part of Passau) the ship got too close to the side of the river and hit a rock. Although the damage is high, I reckon mostly due to the fact that a technical appliance in the engine room was dislodged, the hull is safe enough for the ship to continue its journey.

 

Unfortunately, cruisemapper is not always accurate. Comparing that site with the info on vesselfinder and marinetraffic is helpful - or sometimes more confusing! The tricky bit can be the loss of terrestrial signal along stretches of the rivers. It then appears as if several ships are in one spot. Good example is Boppard on the Rhine where a bulk of ships usually "is affixed" to the map as the signal disappears at that bend in the Rhine Gorge. The actual ships "reappear" just after Rüdesheim. That is if you look in the upstream direction.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[notamermaid]

Vilshofen is on flood mark II. Passau gauge is showing expected figures, now at 679cm, so no change to the forecast. 700cm should not be reached.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[Microman123]

5 hours ago, notamermaid said:

It almost certainly is the Tor, seeing that she is docked in this photo with a police car on the embankment: https://www.pnp.de/lokales/stadt-und-landkreis-passau/schiff-faehrt-bei-passau-gegen-felsen-zwei-passagiere-verletzt-11163713

 

Trying to dock at Lindau (part of Passau) the ship got too close to the side of the river and hit a rock. Although the damage is high, I reckon mostly due to the fact that a technical appliance in the engine room was dislodged, the hull is safe enough for the ship to continue its journey.

 

Unfortunately, cruisemapper is not always accurate. Comparing that site with the info on vesselfinder and marinetraffic is helpful - or sometimes more confusing! The tricky bit can be the loss of terrestrial signal along stretches of the rivers. It then appears as if several ships are in one spot. Good example is Boppard on the Rhine where a bulk of ships usually "is affixed" to the map as the signal disappears at that bend in the Rhine Gorge. The actual ships "reappear" just after Rüdesheim. That is if you look in the upstream direction.

 

notamermaid

 

 

Since it was late last night, I tried to double check myself last night, but only on one ship. After reading your comment, I checked the detailed report by Ship on Cruisemapper and, of course, you are right. Even though the Cruisemapper map shows all 6 boats still in Passau, their individual location reports are much different:

 

Viking Atla current location is at Europe Inland (coordinates 48.57439 N / 13.43221 E) cruising en route to REGENSBURG. The AIS position was reported 1 minute ago.

 

Viking Magni current location is at Europe Inland (coordinates 48.57418 N / 13.43416 E) cruising en route to AMSTERDAM. The AIS position was reported 15 minutes ago.

 

Viking Bragi current location is at Europe Inland (coordinates 48.57637 N / 13.46075 E) cruising en route to AMSTERDAM. The AIS position was reported 3 minutes ago.

 

Viking Tir current location is at Europe Inland (coordinates 48.50096 N / 13.73728 E) cruising en route to BUDAPEST. The AIS position was reported 4 minutes ago.

 

Viking Tor current location is at Europe Inland (coordinates 48.57408 N / 13.43414 E) cruising en route to BUDAPEST. The AIS position was reported 49 seconds ago.

 

Viking Vili current location is at Europe Inland (coordinates 48.57428 N / 13.43218 E) cruising en route to BUDAPEST. The AIS position was reported 5 minutes ago.

 

I'm not going to spend the time, but anyone else interested in plotting these locations to verify that they are all on the move? 🙂

I board the Gymir in Budapest on May 27, so I'm now paying close attention to your river reports. Thanks for continuing that supply of information!

 

[mountaineer82]

We're scheduled to be on the Tor, from Regensburg to Budapest, from May 26.  Any idea how this accident will affect our cruise?

[notamermaid]

Level at Passau going down nicely, now at 631cm. Looking better by the hour but there may be another small rise coming.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

On 5/14/2023 at 1:57 AM, mountaineer82 said:

We're scheduled to be on the Tor, from Regensburg to Budapest, from May 26.  Any idea how this accident will affect our cruise?

As regards the news cycle this is a finished incident, so I am unlikely to hear anything. Any mention of this in the roll calls? Have you checked the My Viking Journey pages of the company? Seeing that the ship was allowed to sail on, it could run the season with some cosmetics but I have no way of knowing this for sure. If there is anything you need to know before you leave for your cruise I am sure Viking will inform you.

 

Water levels.

All gauges in Bavaria have returned to below flooding status. Passau has risen to 648cm and should rise further. After this short wave (which may not reach flooding status again) the level will return to a more pleasant level during the course of tomorrow according to the forecast published at lunchtime today.

 

notamermaid

 

[Microman123]

For those doing the May 27th Budapest to Amsterdam cruise on the Gymir, it is very likely that we will be on the Viking Edgir instead. I started watching the Gymir on cruisemapper.com this weekend. I discovered that the Gymir was heading west with a May 27th arrival in Amsterdam instead of heading to Budapest for our cruise. To double check that this was correct I emailed one of the couples shown on the May 13th Amsterdam to Budapest cruise scheduled for the Gymir. They have confirmed that they had a ship change from the Gymir to the Edgir. Not a big deal since the boats are exactly the same layout and both were launched in 2022! 

 

See you aboard the Edgir in 12 days!

[notamermaid]

So the river was too high and Viking did the ship swap(s). Thanks for the info.

30 minutes ago, Microman123 said:

See you aboard the Edgir in 12 days!

Have a great cruise.

 

notamermaid

 

[mountaineer82]

13 hours ago, notamermaid said:

As regards the news cycle this is a finished incident, so I am unlikely to hear anything. Any mention of this in the roll calls? Have you checked the My Viking Journey pages of the company? Seeing that the ship was allowed to sail on, it could run the season with some cosmetics but I have no way of knowing this for sure. If there is anything you need to know before you leave for your cruise I am sure Viking will inform you.

Thanks for your insight, and all the information you share here.  I've seen nothing about the incident on the roll calls on this site, although I was able to hear through a Facebook group from a passenger who was on the Tor when it happened (last night of their cruise).  She indicated that Viking had told them nothing about what had happened and the news article you posted was the first reliable information they had received.  It does appear that the Tor is still making its way to Budapest, as scheduled, so hopefully it won't present a problem for anyone.  

[reeves35]

On 5/15/2023 at 3:36 AM, notamermaid said:

Level at Passau going down nicely, now at 631cm. Looking better by the hour but there may be another small rise coming.

 

notamermaid

 

Thanks for all  your info.  I know it'd be here somewhere but can you remind me what the typical allowable range is between too high and too low?  Obviously the average level may not be particularly meaningful though a seasonal average, if available, would be good.  

 

When the river is too high, is the issue just bridge clearance or is the river flowing fast and does this affect the riverships?

[notamermaid]

9 hours ago, mountaineer82 said:

She indicated that Viking had told them nothing about what had happened and the news article you posted was the first reliable information they had received. 

That is a bit weird. I mean, two people were treated for injuries on the scene. As it was the stern end of the ship the passenger cabins were probably all fine but still.

 

If she is on her way to Budapest that is great and hopefully a lick of paint and minor internal repairs can do the trick.

 

notamermaid

 

Edited May 16, 2023 by notamermaid

[notamermaid]

7 hours ago, reeves35 said:

I know it'd be here somewhere but can you remind me what the typical allowable range is between too high and too low? 

I am afraid I am not really familiar with averages. Most of the problems arise on the Bavarian Danube so I will talk about that a bit. In Bavaria we have a free-flowing river section that can be problematic in low water, in fact it is every year but it may not always result in ships not sailing. I would say expect it to be close in some years during most likely a week in autumn - that is to say three days, then two days a week later, etc. If it gets worse it can be two consecutive weeks, as an example. The figure to watch is 290cm at Pfelling. That is between Straubing and Vilshofen. Anything lower than that means river cruise ships will need to stop sailing one by one, depending on draft and hull construction. The captain decides, there is no river traffic ban in Germany in low water.

 

High water is different. Here we have the infamous bridge at Passau, that becomes an issue before the actual river level does for sailing. That figure is 630cm for passage under the bridge for some river cruise ships - your captain will know this best and decide for his ship. The level for stopping river traffic in Bavaria eludes me at the moment, it is many centimetres higher than the bridge headroom allows*. Austria also has a ban on river traffic in flooding. Again, this depends on the stretch of river. I am not familiar with the countries beyond Austria. Generally speaking, the current and the conditions change in flooding so this affects all ships and for safety, also for protecting the embankments as I have read, a ban on traffic in very high water makes sense.

 

* Will get back to you on this.

 

notamermaid

 

[mountaineer82]

19 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

That is a bit weird. I mean, two people were treated for injuries on the scene. As it was the stern end of the ship the passenger cabins were probably all fine but still.

I suppose that the accident was late enough at night that few passengers were out of their cabins when it happened, and since it was the last night of the cruise, there wasn't much time for talking about it before they disembarked.