Low water levels push up shipping costs on Europe’s rivers amid heatwave

Vessels on Rhine in Germany and Danube in Hungary forced to sail partially loaded.

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Unusually low water levels on the Danube in Hungary are affecting shipping and agriculture, as temperatures peaked at 35C in Budapest last week. This means cargo ships must leave behind more than half of their loads and can only operate at 30-40% capacity, Attila Bencsik, the deputy president of the Hungarian Shipping Association, said.

In Poland, the water level in the Vistula, the country’s longest river, has fallen to its lowest ever recorded level in Warsaw as temperatures stayed above 30C for a prolonged spell and there has been little rainfall.

Three years ago, German companies faced supply bottlenecks and production problems after a drought and heatwave led to unusually low water levels on the Rhine.

That summer, the French energy supplier EDF had to temporarily reduce output at its nuclear power stations on the Rhône and Garonne rivers as heatwaves pushed up their temperatures, restricting its ability to use their water to cool the plants.

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