Drought halts cargo ships on Germany's Elbe river

BERLIN (AFP) Aug 11, 2004
Cargo ship traffic has been brought to a halt on the Elbe river in eastern Germany as dry weather forces down water levels and the authorities said Wednesday that they expect the problem to get worse.

"No shipments are in place in the ports of Riesa, Dresden and Torgau," said a spokesman for the Saxony state inland ports.

Several Czech freighter ships were stuck in port in Magdeburg waiting for the water to start rising, water and navigation authorities there said.

Levels on the Elbe sat at 87 centimetres (34.25 inches), compared to the summer average of 189 centimetres (74.4 inches), and are expected to drop to 65 centimetres (25.6 inches) by Monday, they said.

Traffic was last halted on the Elbe in 2003 amid record summer temperatures.

Water levels are also low on the Rhine river in western Germany and while a tanker carrying 1,500 tonnes of fuel ran aground there on Tuesday, water authorities said it was probably due to navigator error.

TERRA.WIRE