Danube water levels 2024 and similar topics - plus tips and info

[notamermaid]

1 hour ago, brian1 said:

Yeah,then they came back speaking French.They like Lincolnshire and Cumberland sausages though😉.

Ooh, I like Cumberland sausages, too. I long for a trip to Cumbria...

 

notamermaid

 

[RDVIK2016]

1 hour ago, notamermaid said:

As I mentioned yesterday or the day before, this is a long plateau of high water in Austria. Budapest authorities confirm this for their city: https://hungarytoday.hu/the-most-challenging-and-difficult-phase-of-flood-protection-has-begun/

 

In Germany on the other hand things are moving, at least one ship, that is. The Viking Tor is approaching Pfelling. Will she fit under the next bridges? Exciting!

 

notamermaid

 

 

Looks like she made it.  Marine Traffic is on a bit of delay, but Vessel Tracker has this showing her getting through at 18:50 UTC.  Due at Regensburg at 20:00 UTC. 

[RDVIK2016]

9 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Thank you. My four hours in Bratislava were apparently not enough to recognize the city.

...

notamermaid

 

I was there for a few hours more than planned on our cruise because of LOW water that time. The brow from the bank going down into the ship was quite steep. I had extra time to explore while the boat stayed tied up and arrangements were made to go as far as Komárom and bus in to Budapest the next day. Otherwise I would not have got to St. Martin Cathedral or several other places. 

RDVIK

[notamermaid]

51 minutes ago, luv2trvlmep said:

So I’m just curious, what is the problem at Lock Wallsee, is it still just a water level issue or is  there some other problem with the lock?

Not sure if it is only to do with high water. There is a limitation of draft for vessels due to high water. As I am an amateur I do not know why this would ban ships from using the lock. I guess there must be something else. If folks are interested, they could ask their crew who I am sure would be happy to explain. The notification: https://nts.doris.bmk.gv.at/#401

 

notamermaid

 

Edited 3 hours ago by notamermaid
grammar

[Yorkieboy1972]

2 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Isar river looking much better. Passau gauge has left flood warning level (may go up again just a little).

 

No change to navigation channel in Austria.

 

Those three are still waiting near the approach to Straubing lock:

 

notamermaid

 

Isla is just desperate to get back to Deggendorf, must be feeling homesick?🤪

[Host Jazzbeau]

2 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Well, we the German tribes fought them off, especially in Mainz. They had come up the Rhine River. Or perhaps they did not like the sausages... They went to England and settled in Normandy.

...and Galicia in Spain, and Sicily – wherever you find red-headed people today!

[Yorkieboy1972]

41 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

Ooh, I like Cumberland sausages, too. I long for a trip to Cumbria...

 

notamermaid

 

Most of my family are from Cumbria, so I know it well. As someone with a nautical bent, if you go there you really need to do your research and visit Whitehaven. The nautical history there is amazing. 
 

 

[JOR70]

Got an email from Uniworld today. We are supposed to leave Budapest Sunday but they will bus us to Bratislava to stay in a hotel there overnight, then board the ship Monday there. Actually kind of excited because we love Bratislava and it gives us extra time there. 

[RDVIK2016]

3 hours ago, ural guy said:

If you decide to get adventurous with your extra time in Bratislava, this castle is worth visiting and is 13 km from downtown Bratislava.  High on a cliff with great views of the Danube and Morava River.  Very moving memorial to those who died trying to escape communism by crossing the river to Austria.  A taxi or Uber will get you there, I was able to take a ship's bike.

 

https://hraddevin.mmb.sk/en/

 

2 hours ago, hermione8181 said:

We conferred and decided to throw Budapest out. No need to do 4 hours of bus travel. We decided to just embrace where we will be, so explore Slovakia is the way we will go:)

@hermione8181

As I just mentioned to @notamermaid my cruise stayed longer than planned in Bratislava because LOW water precluded us getting to Budapest. That allowed me to wander around on my own after the cruise's included walking tour of the city center.

 

Several statues around the city are very amusing; best known are ones called Čumil and Schöne Náci. Some others are along the park/boulevard called Hviesdoslavovo Namestie. That makes for a pleasant walk and the river end is very close to the Cathedral of St. Martin where many Austro-Hungarian coronations were held. I got there my a different route - partially following the coronation procession route marked by brass inserts in the cobblestones. The synagogue memorial right next to St. Martin is very interesting, I thought. Kostol sv. Alžbety (Church of St Elizabeth) "The Blue Church" is unique. I never did visit a cafe in the city center, but they are supposed to me a couple of really nice ones. 

 

If I had a another day or two I would have gone out to the fortress ruins a Devin. I did not inquire about visiting the observation deck at the top of the UFO bridge.

 

RDVIK

 

 

 

 

[notamermaid]

21 minutes ago, Yorkieboy1972 said:

The nautical history there is amazing. 

Thank you. I will look that up. Have not been to Whitehaven but spent a windy afternoon at Senhouse Museum in Maryport. I walked up the (modern) observation tower and could imagine the cold weather and sheer boredom the Roman soldiers posted there from warmer realms must have felt. For them almost literally at the end of the world and quite deserted. It always amazes me when I think that up there and on the Danube as far as Budapest and further there are Roman forts to explore. So many settlements go back to that era and the legacy lives on in more than just names sometimes. It is probably felt more nearer to Gaul, i.e. France, and the Rhine but it is there on the Middle Danube and also the Lower Danube albeit not as prominent sometimes perhaps.

 

For a bit of geography: Regensburg is within the old Roman Empire, a border town called Regina Castra.The Roman Empire had the Danube as its border there for some kilometres before that. When you meet the Danube leaving the Main Danube Canal at Kelheim you enter the old Roman Empire (about 140 AD and later) and never leave it if you stay on the river until you get to the Black Sea. South of the Danube, so the right bank of the river as you travel downstream, is all Roman Empire. A lot of the left bank, but not all, is outside of it.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

1 hour ago, JOR70 said:

Actually kind of excited because we love Bratislava and it gives us extra time there. 

Oh, good. So things are looking to work out well for your river cruise.

 

Welcome to Cruisecritic. Have a great time on the river.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

2 hours ago, RDVIK2016 said:

Looks like she made it.  Marine Traffic is on a bit of delay, but Vessel Tracker has this showing her getting through at 18:50 UTC.  Due at Regensburg at 20:00 UTC. 

Let me add the river levels to that. 18:50 UTC is our 20:50 local time, so levels are:

 

Schwabelweiß 20:45 local time, 349cm

Pfatter 20:45 local time, 399cm

Pfelling 20:45 local time, 505cm

 

Bogen railway bridge is between Pfatter and Pfelling.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

In another context I happened to look at Viva Cruises. They have a banner at the top of their website at the moment. https://www.viva-*****/en

Screenshot, for the record:

 

Text is:

 

And the passengers of the Thurgau Prestige were allowed to leave the ship on Tuesday. Remember it was stuck at Wien Nussdorf with the landing stage under water. The authorities granted special permission for the ship to move to the Handelskai dock. German article: https://www.touristik-aktuell.de/nachrichten/kreuzfahrten/news/datum/2024/09/18/thurgau-travel-passagiere-in-wien-per-sondergenehmigung-ausgeschifft/

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[AtlantaCruiser72]

2 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Not sure if it is only to do with high water. There is a limitation of draft for vessels due to high water. As I am an amateur I do not know why this would ban ships from using the lock. I guess there must be something else. If folks are interested, they could ask their crew who I am sure would be happy to explain. The notification: https://nts.doris.bmk.gv.at/#401

 

notamermaid

 

 

Could it perhaps be an AIR DRAFT issue (height of vessel above waterline to maximum point) that they might be referring to?  That could easily prevent many vessels from passing under bridges as well as certain locks during high water level periods.

[RDVIK2016]

2 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Not sure if it is only to do with high water. There is a limitation of draft for vessels due to high water. As I am an amateur I do not know why this would ban ships from using the lock. I guess there must be something else. If folks are interested, they could ask their crew who I am sure would be happy to explain. The notification: https://nts.doris.bmk.gv.at/#401

 

notamermaid

This might be a clue to what is going on now at the Wallsee lock. The note says there is a maximum draft of 2.1 meters currently.  Back in June they had a limit of 1.8 apparently due to masses of sand shifting near the lock.  This news article has a paywall, but the summary gives the relevant info. 

 

 

[RDVIK2016]

4 minutes ago, AtlantaCruiser72 said:

 

Could it perhaps be an AIR DRAFT issue (height of vessel above waterline to maximum point) that they might be referring to?  That could easily prevent many vessels from passing under bridges as well as certain locks during high water level periods.

We were posting at about the same time, but chances are that piles of sand were built up by the strong currents on the river bottom. See my other recent post. RDVIK

[notamermaid]

So the first two gauges in Hungary (border section with Slovakia) have peaked today. The Bratislava level has been falling since yesterday. Komarom is rising slowly now. Budapest has slowed down as well but the alert level 3 will be reached during the night, according to the forecast.

 

notamermaid

 

[Canal archive]

Whoops missed a few bits busy watching the politics on a Thursday evening, so now I’ve finished shouting at the box.

I’d just like to explain that although many Scots have red hair or should I say Titian they obviously have a smattering of the Viking in Britain we even had a tax that was paid to the Vikings the Danegeld supposedly to make them stop attacking. We just assimilated them as we have many nationalities. It’s what has made this hopefully still United Kingdom.

[notamermaid]

Thank you folks, I guess it must be the sand. It would make sense as silting up due to flooding is an issue at locks. [language nerd alert] The engineers call what the river carries, meaning small gravel and sand, in German "Geschiebe". The word is vaguely related to the english "shove", i.e. a very old Germanic shared word.

 

Makes we wonder if there will be more issues in the next few days that could make one chamber at a lock unusable. That would slow traffic down somewhat.

 

notamermaid