Rhine closed to shipping after container accident
published: cw 13, 2007 in Logistics & ShippingThe Rhine river is closed to shipping near Cologne in Germany after an accident involving a container ship over the weekend.
The river could remain closed for several days, possibly until Friday, a spokesman for the German inland navigation agency added. But the agency would seek to at least partially open the river to shipping before then. “Germany is cut off from the ARA,” Dutch oil analyst Pieter Kulsen said, referring to barge traffic between the inland German market and the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp refining and trading hub. “Within Germany, it’s possible to transport barges up to Cologne, but there’s no traffic from Cologne to the ARA,” he added.
The closure occured after about 30 containers fell off a ship. Several have sunk and the river will remain closed until all have been recovered. A container which was loaded with an oil-based product was being pumped empty while a helicopter was being used to help locate the containers. Survey vessels with sonar equipment were being used to locate the lost containers, the navigation agency said. Floating cranes are to be used to recover the containers but the first was unlikely to arrive until Tuesday.
European oil traders said there had been no impact yet on most oil products markets, although this could change if the Rhine closure lasts for more than a few days. “There’s no impact at all,” a distillates trader said. “The market is in the hands of inland refiners.” Traders pointed to modest demand for most fuels that was being largely satisfied by supply from domestic German refineries. Some oil traders said however that the Rhine closure could hamper barge movements linked to the April 1 switch from winter specification to summer-spec gasoline and diesel.
Source: Reuters
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