If the Rhine near Basel Rheinhalle carries more than 820 cm of water, large shipping is stopped. This high water mark was reached days ago. On Thursday morning the Rhine level was 902 cm. And relaxation is not in sight, on the contrary: for Thursday evening, the Federal Office for the Environment is forecasting an increase in the level to a high of 953 cm.
Freight shipping on the Rhine has therefore been suspended for days. Well over 20 ships are currently stuck in Basel’s Rhine ports. As of Thursday, there were ten freight ships in the Basel port of Kleinhüningen. In the two Baselbiet ports, 14 barges are currently waiting for the onward journey: ten in the Auhafen Muttenz and four in the port of Rheinfelden, as the Swiss Rhine ports say on request.
Is there a threat of a delivery bottleneck?
Another ship is also blocked in Rheinfelden AG. Even for three freight ships between the Kembs and Vogelgrün locks on French territory, there is currently no further upstream towards Switzerland.
The standstill on the Rhine is already having an impact on the supply of container goods to Switzerland. According to statements from the Fenaco subsidiary Landi, delivery delays are currently to be expected. “Around ten percent of all imported goods in Switzerland come via the Rhine port in Basel, which is closed due to the high water level,” says Landi Switzerland spokeswoman Elina Villard. “The resulting delivery delays will also be felt by us.” Whether there is a risk of gaps on the shelves soon depends on how long the blockade will last.
Block until next week
In any case, the situation is not expected to normalize within the next few days. “Unfortunately, we have to assume that the flood situation will not ease so quickly and that shipping will therefore be interrupted until the end of next week,” said the Rhine ports spokeswoman Jelena Dobric when asked by Keystone-SDA.
This not only has consequences for Swiss retailers, but also directly for inland shipping and the port industry. According to spokeswoman Dobric, it is not yet possible to estimate how high the financial losses will be and whether the current flood will have a lasting impact on the handling volume in 2021.
Container shipping in crisis
It happens again and again that shipping on the Rhine has to be stopped because of too little or too much water. According to the Rhine ports, the last long interruption due to flooding took place in spring 2016. The Kembs-Rheinfelden route was closed for six days, and the Basel-Birsfelden route for 15 days.
It is also not the first time that container shipping has caused a stir this year: In March, the wrecked Ever Given blocked the Suez Canal for days and caused delivery delays worldwide. For months, one of the largest container ports in the world, Yantian in China, has also only been running on the back burner due to corona outbreaks among dock workers. These events are also clearly noticeable in Switzerland. Among other things, the discounter Aldi expects delivery delays. (SDA / frs)