Koeln (Port)

Latest news

Rising Water Causes Rhine River Closure

Rising waters and extensive flooding has caused the Rhine river in Germany to close off all shipping activity until further notice, according to the German Inland Navigation Authority. The Authority has reported the river has been closed between the German cities of Duisburg and Koblenz, which will prevent sailings to and from Switzerland. A spokesman for the water police told news website The Local: "As soon as the water level climbs over 8.3 metres, that happens.” Persistent rainfall and melting snow have led to a gradual rise in river levels in western Germany in recent days. https://www.porttechnology.org/news/rising_water_causes_rhine_river_closure

PitPoint.LNG to build the first LNG bunkering station in Germany

PitPoint.LNG will build Germany’s first liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering station in the harbor of Cologne. The new station will facilitate the bunkering of LNG powered inland waterways vessels that sail on Europe’s busiest transport waterway, the Rhine. The construction of the bunkering station is a next step in PitPoint.LNG’s strategy to develop a European LNG infrastructure to facilitate the uptake of LNG as fuel for road and marine transport. Source: PitPoint.LNG

Low Water Hampers Shipping on Rhine

(Reuters) – Low water levels persist on the Rhine and Danube in Germany and cargo vessels cannot sail fully loaded on the German sections of both rivers, traders said on Monday. The Rhine is too shallow to allow vessels to sail with full loads south of Cologne and Duisburg, traders said. Water levels have been unusually low since early August. Low water means vessel operators impose surcharges on freight rates, increasing costs for cargo owners. More vessels are needed to transport cargo, also increasing costs. The Rhine is an important shipping route for commodities including grains, minerals, coal and oil products such as heating oil.