Cargo ships on the Upper Elbe remain at a standstill

Even after the rainfall in the second half of August, the water level of the Elbe River in Saxony remains too low for commercial shipping. Operations at Saxony’s Upper Elbe Inland Ports (SBO) therefore remain suspended, according to Mandy Hofmann, a spokesperson for the company. It is not yet clear when operations can resume. For that to happen, the weather would have to change significantly, and it would also need to rain consistently in the Czech Republic, Hofmann explained.

Freight traffic on the Upper Elbe usually resumes in September. According to Hofmann, the start could be delayed this year. “We’re hoping for the best, but we just don’t know.”

For operations to resume, the water level must be predictably and reliably above one meter; at the Dresden gauge, it currently stands at about 60 centimeters. Only then would the shipping companies redeploy their vessels, which are currently operating in navigable waters, Hofmann explained.

No freight shipping since late April

It is not unusual for the Upper Elbe to have insufficient water levels for economically viable freight shipping during the summer. This year, however, this period began as early as late April—an unusually early start. Ships got stuck, and not all goods could be transferred to road and rail. As a result, oversized and heavy loads—including large machine parts, generators, and turbines—are still stranded in Dresden. The abrupt halt at the end of April also affected imports, Hofmann said. “There are also ships still sitting in seaports that didn’t make it to us in time and cannot be transported either.”

Saxon inland ports do not benefit from Sunday restrictions easing

The Saxon inland ports on the Upper Elbe are not benefiting from the easing of the Sunday shipping ban, which Saxony and several other federal states had introduced due to the Germany-wide low water levels. “We’ve had these low water levels since the end of April. At that time, we shifted our shipments as much as possible,” Hofmann explained. Heavy-haul shipments—which are to be kept off rail and road as much as possible—are waiting at the port for water levels to rise.