Heat: Low water on the Rhine: Demand for task force
The Rhine reaches historically low water levels, ships can barely load anymore. NRW Minister Krischer wants to counteract with a task force - and demands money from the federal government.
In view of the low water level on the Rhine, a national task force at the behest of North Rhine-Westphalia's Minister of Transport Oliver Krischer (Greens) is to quickly agree on concrete measures. These include additional storage capacities in ports for hazardous goods, additional rail capacities and the question of "how to prioritize what is to be transported," Krischer said in the ZDF "Morning Magazine".
Such an approach has already proven itself in 2018. "This will not make the problem completely disappear. But it can help improve the situation in many places." In his view, experts from the logistics industry, municipalities, state governments and the federal government should come together. Unlike in 2018, the low water level is occurring very early this year: "In 2018, we only had it in late summer, in autumn, now already in midsummer. We will probably have to deal with the situation for several weeks and months," Krischer said.
The Rhine shipping channel is to be expanded In the medium term, Krischer is pushing for the expansion of the Rhine shipping channel. "That's completely right and necessary," he said in the "Morning Magazine". There have been concrete plans for many years, and one section has been fully planned: "So, construction could theoretically start tomorrow. Unfortunately, the federal government is missing the funds."
Translated by urgent.news. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
