Rhine water levels 2022 and similar topics

[Bet & Peg]

My BFF and I leave Amsterdam September 8th for Basel and decided to go regardless of low water on the Rhine. I feel bad since this is her first River Cruise!! We're scheduled to meet a German friend for dinner in Rudesheim  I've been glued to this site for weeks and praying for rain (at night)!!! But what will be will be!!!! Thank you all for your information - some of which I actually do understand! - and also for your on-site updates of how the companies are meeting this challenge!!! Your information is, as usual, very helpful!!! 

[Canal archive]

You’ll be fine your with your BFF!

[notamermaid]

Thanks for the cm explanation. Centimetres indeed, not everyone uses it, forgot that, and it may have been something special but it is completely normal 100th of a metre.

 

Folks, please tell me if something else remains unclear.

 

3 hours ago, gentlemancruiser said:

How are the water levels of the Rhine from Rudesheim/Mainz to Basel???? 

The low water extends upstream of course, Rüdesheim to Worms will be better than Kaub but also require careful, slower, navigation. If the level drops further I can see ships not making it to Mainz, right now Viking appears to be not even going to Rüdesheim, that could be the shallows or just logistics, not sure. It will again depend on company and ship what happens. Upstream from Worms tends to be even better but is low also. Not sure how bad the problem may be. No problem is Iffezheim to Basel as that stretch is controlled by locks.

 

In 2018 Cologne to Mannheim was affected and brought major problems for 135m ships to get a half decent itinerary on the Rhine together. The solutions were cancellations or diversion onto the Moselle or flights in the case of the Grand European or navigating the Rhine, Waal and canals (effectively a tulips cruise without tulips) or ship swaps with hotel "till the bitter end". Several companies managed to get passengers onto excursion boats to see the Rhine Gorge.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[notamermaid]

1 hour ago, gayles said:

We are on the Viking Sigyn leaving from Basel on August 30. 

I understand the problem. Viking has the policy of not cancelling and replacing the cruise with a hotel or ship swap thereby having fulfilled what they set out to do: give you a river cruise from x to z.

I advise reading this:

 

Now I cannot know what happens at the end of August. Normally I would not post this modelling as it is vague and probability computer modelling but it may make the decision easier - or not:

 

The next 14 days at Kaub. Basically the level is most likely to go up after a decline. Purple is the most probable outcome. You can see that the level is most likely to be in the upper 50's to lower 60's range. If we assume that your ship can sail at 65cm you could assume that you will be okay without a ship swap. But it is all up to the captain and there is no guarantee that Kaub will not go down again.

 

Basically I call it highly uncertain still at this point. We may reasonably assume that your ship will sail at 78cm. Edit: the captains of the two sister ships on opposite sides of the Rhine Gorge may nevertheless decide to go for the swap instead. End edit. The probability of the level reaching that figure is not as high as we would like, but it is definitely possible that we will see that.

 

In the end it depends on what you are comfortable with. No coach, 30 minutes on a coach, one hour on a coach, no ship swap or ship swap.

 

A gamble, but perhaps this gets you closer to making a comfortable decision.

 

notamermaid

 

Edited August 10, 2022 by notamermaid
added info

[pfibilly]

We are on the Sept 3rd Paris to Swiss Alps on Viking. Just got off the phone with a Viking CSR who put me on hold when I asked about current conditions. I stated that the last communication from Viking was now 1 week old. She came back and told me that she had just checked on a sailing that just concluded "without a hitch." I asked what that meant and she stated that there we no ship swaps or additional buses involved. Of course, conditions could deteriorate in the next 3 weeks. I also checked on the same cruise for next September and our cabin choice and premium economy flight is no longer available. Therefore, we have decided to "stay the course."

[cruisinlawn]

Wow...I was interpreting correctly in that cm = centimeters. Sooo...to further understand correctly, at 55cm that river is roughly just under 22 inches in depth?   If that is the case, how the heck can anything flow down it?  Again, call me navigational ignorant. Sorry

[notamermaid]

1 hour ago, cruisinlawn said:

Wow...I was interpreting correctly in that cm = centimeters. Sooo...to further understand correctly, at 55cm that river is roughly just under 22 inches in depth?   If that is the case, how the heck can anything flow down it?  Again, call me navigational ignorant. Sorry

Aaah, yes. That is not ignorance, that is a complicated calculation which I explained a few pages back. It is impossible to know without graphs and some explanatory notes. May I for lack of time refer you back to there?  Basically it is this: the gauge which is like a ruler fixed to the side of the embankment reads 55cm. This is calculated into the navigation channel depth. The actual river depth is let us say all over the place, could be anything between 0.5m (unused old channel or side arm) and around 20m (Lorelei rock). Do not nail me down on exact figures. Even deeper in a ravine in Switzerland.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2827571-rhine-water-levels-2022-and-similar-topics/page/18/

post #441 and thereabouts.

 

notamermaid

 

[cruisinlawn]

ah,, thank you for not blasting me!  I find this very interesting and your knowledge is exciting. Thank you for the read, going back to your explanation now. 😁

[gayles]

To clarify for everyone reading this forum,  for those using Viking, I just learned that there is a difference between The Grand European tour and the  Rhine getaway in how the low river is handled,  For the Rhine getaway there are boats going in both directions so there may be a boat change but not a hotel stay.  The other cruise does not have multiple boats available so thus the need for using hotels along the route.  So my travel agent assured me that if needed we would only do one transfer and that none of the excursions would be missed.
 

[notamermaid]

Above I posted the probability chart so I would like to be a bit more precise and say what the forecast shows. Current figure at Kaub is 46cm. Forecast for tomorrow is for lower figures, 42cm by the evening. Friday it may drop below 40cm. Record low in 2018 was 25cm on 22 October (!). Makes you understand why people here are a little worried. It is only August.

 

On 8/9/2022 at 7:58 PM, notamermaid said:

I mentioned the deeper navigation channel at Cologne and further downstream a while ago, so will come back to that very soon. Tonight or in the next couple of days.

 

Cologne has a navigation channel depth, i.e. the shipping industry can rely on the authorities maintaining the depth, of 250cm under the GlW figure. That figure in Cologne is set at gauge reading 139cm. So now with the current depth on the gauge reading 93cm, we can tell the river is low but there is still enough water for sailing of river cruise ships. It is getting tighter tough. The navigation channel is also wider than upstream in the Rhine Gorge. All good, except that docking locations may change as getting out of the deep navigation channel can be tricky and damage the hull. Here is the catch at Cologne, not necessarily a problem this year but generally speaking a hazard: the "Deutzer Platte". This is a shallows, a gravel bank in this case, that stretches for 700m at Rhine kilometre 687. Deutz is a suburb of Cologne on the right bank. I said the navigation channel is wider, in Cologne generally 150m but at the shallows the river widens to 380m as there are two entrances to harbour areas. This slows the current and the propellers during ship manoeuvres whirl up and redistribute the gravel. This puts more and more deposits at the spot. Therefore the area needs be dredged regularly. I think it was done not so long ago. Ships have run aground here in the past, even a river cruise ship. On 20 August 2018 the "Douce France" wanted to dock nearby and ran aground. No extensive damage. No injuries.

 

Past Cologne the situation gets better again, with the navigation channel from around Duisburg being even deeper towards the border with the Netherlands.

 

So, you could still get a varied itinerary together in Belgium, the Netherlands and into Germany. The ports beyond Cologne are Düsseldorf, Duisburg, Xanten, Wesel and Emmerich.

 

What does the landscape look like down there at the Lower Rhine of Germany? Basically wide open fields and flat land. Several large towns. Some industry of course (main area is Duisburg). Okay, no mountains, no Gorge, so not a substitute. But so much history, with moated castles and palaces (where are there none in Germany? ) We could have a quick look at the river at Emmerich in an interesting recent video. But that is for another day as I would like to provide some explanations and translation of what is said in the German video.

 

notamermaid

 

[gentlemancruiser]

53 minutes ago, gayles said:

 So my travel agent assured me that if needed we would only do one transfer and that none of the excursions would be missed.
 

A note of caution to you or maybe your agent.   We've had 3 of our 5 river cruises disrupted by low water/broken locks/etc.   In all cases we've faced "revised" itineraries which have involved missing or revising excursions.   There is NO way of really knowing in any great detail the specifics about changes/swaps.  It's a day to day thing with rivers/waterways.  River cruising is very enjoyable, however it is unpredictable. Best advice "Go with the flow".   

A Grand European cruise usually involves 3 waterways, the Danube (Budapest to Regensberg), the Main(Regenberg to Mainz) & the Rhine(Mainz near Frankfurt to Amsterdam).       

[RDVIK2016]

9 hours ago, notamermaid said:

 

Now I cannot know what happens at the end of August. Normally I would not post this modelling as it is vague and probability computer modelling but it may make the decision easier - or not:

 

 

These are definitely going on a list of favorite German words:  Unter- and Überschreitungswarscheinlichkeit. 

We could wager the over-under for each day.

[RDVIK2016]

5 hours ago, notamermaid said:

 

Cologne has a navigation channel depth, i.e. the shipping industry can rely on the authorities maintaining the depth, of 250cm under the GlW figure. That figure in Cologne is set at gauge reading 139cm. So now with the current depth on the gauge reading 93cm, we can tell the river is low but there is still enough water for sailing of river cruise ships. It is getting tighter tough. The navigation channel is also wider than upstream in the Rhine Gorge. All good, except that docking locations may change as getting out of the deep navigation channel can be tricky and damage the hull. Here is the catch at Cologne, not necessarily a problem this year but generally speaking a hazard: the "Deutzer Platte". This is a shallows, a gravel bank in this case, that stretches for 700m at Rhine kilometre 687. Deutz is a suburb of Cologne on the right bank. I said the navigation channel is wider, in Cologne generally 150m but at the shallows the river widens to 380m as there are two entrances to harbour areas. This slows the current and the propellers during ship manoeuvres whirl up and redistribute the gravel. This puts more and more deposits at the spot. Therefore the area needs be dredged regularly. I think it was done not so long ago. Ships have run aground here in the past, even a river cruise ship. On 20 August 2018 the "Douce France" wanted to dock nearby and ran aground. No extensive damage. No injuries.

 

notamermaid

 

About this gravel that gets moved around and reduces the depth of the navigation channel:  Do you know how often they attempt to measure it or they know when a ship scrapes it?  I assume gravel makes up a Fehltiefe, correct?

 

 

[RDVIK2016]

8 hours ago, cruisinlawn said:

Wow...I was interpreting correctly in that cm = centimeters. Sooo...to further understand correctly, at 55cm that river is roughly just under 22 inches in depth?   If that is the case, how the heck can anything flow down it?  Again, call me navigational ignorant. Sorry

Hi cruisinlawn,

 

These measurements of river depth have had me scratching my head.  Thanks to notamermaid and some reading elsewhere I think I am beginning to get a grasp on it.  So I am going to give this whole thing a shot if only to help organize my own thoughts and to see if someone helps me by pointing out errors. 

 

Like notamermaid said the Pegel number is read on a scale placed at the embankment like an oversized yardstick. The placement of the 0 point of the scale is somewhat arbitrary, but you want it in such a position the river surface never falls below the 0 mark.  This number changes every day.  

 

The authorities have Pegel records going way back and determine a Pegel below which the river surface falls 20 days a year.  At Kaub that is a Pegel of 78cm. (This number is called the Gleichwertiger Wasserstand or GLW). 

 

Then they measure down from the the 78cm mark to the bottom of the river in the navigation channel.  At Kaub that is 190cm.  This just the depth under the GLW (Tiefe unter GLW - TuGLW)

 

The captains will have all the GLW and other data on readily available tables. 

 

So when they have a Pegel of 50cm at Kaub that is 28cm below the mark at which the navigation channel is 190 cm.  Therefore the actual water depth is 190cm - 28cm = 162cm.  If your ship needs more than 162cm to pass then you'll need to do a ship swap.  To figure out if your particular ship can pass you'll have to know the draught of the vessel, if there are reports of debris on the bottom, and how risk-averse your captain is. Viking Rhein Getaway captains have the luxury of knowing if they have a sister ship coming the other way so they can both stop short of the shallow spots and swap passengers. 

 

By the way on the Danube they don't use GLW. They have a different way to figure navigation depth.

 

I hope I got that close to correct. 

RDVIK

[Canal archive]

https://news.sky.com/video/share-12670015
 

i thought I posted this before I know it’s not good watching but at least it shows what is happening.

[notamermaid]

5 hours ago, RDVIK2016 said:

I assume gravel makes up a Fehltiefe, correct?

Yes, a Fehltiefe is a navigational or hydrology term meaning "not the depth it should be", i.e. a shallows. Could be sand, gravel, rock.

 

Official "Fehltiefe" spots are marked in the constantly updated info for captains (available online also), like the one at Deutz for example. They are regularly monitored. There is something called a "Peilboot", I think the official term is also "Vermessungsschiff", on the Rhine two or three of those maintenance boats equipped with sonar check the river bed. In the Danube thread I posted a short video of a Peilboot checking the depth of the river at Pfelling every day in this drought. Here is the "Hildegard von Bingen" on the Rhine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbufqVUMvB0

 

Kaub gauge at 47cm this morning. Adjusted forecast says dropping below 40cm tomorrow afternoon. Outlook into the weekend: very slow decline in the figures. Inching closer to a new low? Or keeping steady in the 40's after a bit of rain next week? Who knows.

 

Right, got to go shopping before it gets hot.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

@Canal archive Good footage, thanks.

 

notamermaid

 

[2inSETexas]

1 hour ago, notamermaid said:

Yes, a Fehltiefe is a navigational or hydrology term meaning "not the depth it should be", i.e. a shallows. Could be sand, gravel, rock.

 

Official "Fehltiefe" spots are marked in the constantly updated info for captains (available online also), like the one at Deutz for example. They are regularly monitored. There is something called a "Peilboot", I think the official term is also "Vermessungsschiff", on the Rhine two or three of those maintenance boats equipped with sonar check the river bed. In the Danube thread I posted a short video of a Peilboot checking the depth of the river at Pfelling every day in this drought. Here is the "Hildegard von Bingen" on the Rhine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbufqVUMvB0

 

Kaub gauge at 47cm this morning. Adjusted forecast says dropping below 40cm tomorrow afternoon. Outlook into the weekend: very slow decline in the figures. Inching closer to a new low? Or keeping steady in the 40's after a bit of rain next week? Who knows.

 

Right, got to go shopping before it gets hot.

 

notamermaid

 

Visual of how low it is now.

[notamermaid]

It has been announced that the illuminated ships cannot sail on Saturday to Koblenz during the Rhine in Flames event. The river level is too low for safe passage of all the ships. In the evening hours the procession of ships normally sails from Spay to Koblenz and the passengers watch the Bengal fires and fireworks on the hills. The fire risk in drought is still being assessed so not sure if those fireworks will take place. All organized events on land will go ahead. English page has not been updated, so here is the German one: https://www.rhein-in-flammen.com/spay-koblenz/spay-koblenz.html

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

7 hours ago, RDVIK2016 said:

The authorities have Pegel records going way back and determine a Pegel below which the river surface falls 20 days a year.

Haven't looked into that. Not sure where to find that to check it.

 

7 hours ago, RDVIK2016 said:

By the way on the Danube they don't use GLW. They have a different way to figure navigation depth.

At Pfelling:

The lowest ever recorded (NNW) from 2018 has been beaten (as of now unofficial), NW is low water in the given time period.

 

RNW - Regulierungswasserstand - is the relevant marker corresponding to GlW. At Pfelling it happens to be the also the figure that tells us that large river cruise ships start to struggle.

 

Thank you for taking the time to help with explaining all this to folks.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

@2inSETexas It looks like a stranded castle ship. The design was partly deliberate I think, but what looks like the bow of a ship is also the ice breaker, i.e. a quite pointy wall. "Strand" by the way is the German word for beach. We say "gestrandet" for a ship, the image is of a ship running onto the beach. Interesting that the English "stranded" is basically the same idea, but the word "strand" these days is mostly associated with place names or river banks and embankments that are streets or promenades.

 

Just needed to let the language nerd in me out briefly.

 

Too busy to take photos myself this week, the heat is seriously slowing me down.

 

15 hours ago, notamermaid said:

We could have a quick look at the river at Emmerich in an interesting recent video.

Here goes, taken from a weather forecast site. The reporter is standing at Emmerich gauge, dated 3 August,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yLboaE4UCg

and then sails with a boat of the authorities. See the buoys that the boat carries and replaces if necessary. The boss of the regional waterways management says that (at the time of filming) the gauge reads 40cm, unusually low for this time of year, which corresponds to a navigation channel depth of still 236cm. The width of the navigation channel is 150m, but when the river is much higher ships can use a zone outside of those 150m as well. The large barges and tankers cannot sail at full load. This means that in effect the same amount of goods needs to be transported, but more ships are needed to carry that load. This has the effect that there are more ships on the Rhine but there is less space for them.

 

The shipwreck featured in the video is the "De Hoop", a Dutch sailing barge that had an accident there in 1895. It is regularly exposed at low water levels.

 

Clear message: do not swim in the Rhine even though the river is low. The current is still too strong. Notice the footage of Cologne railway bridge and Cathedral. At 1:57 a dredger, or rather a ship with crane for dredging, may be placed at the bridge, I am not certain.

 

So what does the gauge at Emmerich say now? 16cm!

 

notamermaid

 

[gentlemancruiser]

this shows some of the lowest sections 

 

[momofthre3]

1 hour ago, notamermaid said:

It has been announced that the illuminated ships cannot sail on Saturday to Koblenz during the Rhine in Flames event. The river level is too low for safe passage of all the ships. In the evening hours the procession of ships normally sails from Spay to Koblenz and the passengers watch the Bengal fires and fireworks on the hills. The fire risk in drought is still being assessed so not sure if those fireworks will take place. All organized events on land will go ahead. English page has not been updated, so here is the German one: https://www.rhein-in-flammen.com/spay-koblenz/spay-koblenz.html

 

notamermaid

 

Our Travel agent and friend told us Uniworld S.S. Antoniette has cancelled their August 14th sailing.  Ours planned on the 21st is still on, however I do not see much hope (and I am a "glass half full" type of gal) of our trip going from Amsterdam to Basel.  Plans are now being made for a backup.  One of the choices is the S.S. Maria Theresa heading out of Budapest.   However, I am reading that the Danube is also low, and Budapest may not be available as a port.  What are your wise thoughts?

[Haqdeluxe]

3 minutes ago, momofthre3 said:

Our Travel agent and friend told us Uniworld S.S. Antoniette has cancelled their August 14th sailing.  Ours planned on the 21st is still on, however I do not see much hope (and I am a "glass half full" type of gal) of our trip going from Amsterdam to Basel.  Plans are now being made for a backup.  One of the choices is the S.S. Maria Theresa heading out of Budapest.   However, I am reading that the Danube is also low, and Budapest may not be available as a port.  What are your wise thoughts?

Getting into Budapest from the north is inhibited at the moment and ships are making port north of Budapest and bussing into Budapest. 

[notamermaid]

Hmm, my immediate thought is, "oh no, do not choose the Danube". Sorry about the trip, the S.S. Antoinette is an elegant ship and sails a very interesting itinerary (superior to Viking and similar Basel - Amsterdam ones IMO).

 

Not sure what to do in your case. Would you want to come to Europe anyway if your sailing is cancelled? Have a land trip? Find a last minute sailing on a 110m ship? I hope your river cruise is on but it really is now in doubt.

 

notamermaid