Rhine-Alpine News

31.05.2023

BASF has developed a new type of ship for low water in the Rhine

Source: Picture by Markus Distelrath on Pixabay

Source: Picture by Markus Distelrath on Pixabay

The chemical company BASF christened a so-called low-water ship on its factory premises in Ludwigshafen on Friday. It can also pass the Rhine at extremely low water levels. The new tanker of Ludwigshafen-based BASF was christened “Stolt Ludwigshafen”. The ship is 135 meters long and around 18 meters wide. After the extremely low water in 2018, the ship was developed and built together with a Dutch shipping company. The ship is very light and should be able to sail fully loaded on the Rhine even at very low water levels. It should also be able to pass particularly critical points, such as the one on the Middle Rhine near Kaub (Rhein-Lahn district) – there the river carries very little water in hot summers. So far, ships could only sail with low loads at low tide – with negative consequences for production in the Ludwigshafen chemical plant. According to BASF, 40 percent of its raw materials are delivered via the Rhine. The new low-water ship will now commute between the BASF plant and the North Sea ports of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Antwerp. BASF wants to have more ships built in order to be prepared for future hot summers. According to the company, you need a mix of large and small canal-going ships in order to be able to reach locations with smaller infrastructure by water.

Source (in German): https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/rheinland-pfalz/ludwigshafen/basf-schiff-fuer-niedrigwasser-im-rhein-100.html

Modal split of trans-alpine freight traffic

Source: Image by Train Learn Grow on Pixabay

Source: Image by Train Learn Grow on Pixabay

The Rail Freight Corridor Rhine-Alpine published its Annual Report 2022. In 2022, the transalpine freight transport remained on the level of the previous year. In total, 38.3 million tons were transported by road and rail in 2022. Compared to the previous year, this corresponds to a slight decrease of -0.3 %. Transalpine road freight transport recorded a decline in volume of -0.7 %, whereas the volume transported via rail only decreased by -0.2 %. The total of goods transported via rail amounted to 28.3 million tons. Thus, transalpine rail freight transport volume remains on a high level. Minor changes in volume of transalpine freight transport had no effect on the general modal split. With 2021 being the year with the highest rail share in transalpine traffic in the last 30 years, 2022 confirmed this trend. The rail share of total transalpine freight traffic in Switzerland remained at 73,9%. More figures and information on traffic volumes and modal shares of the ports of the Rhine-Alpine corridor can be found here: https://cip.rne.eu/apex/download_my_file?in_document_id=12740 

Addendum to the Vado Ligure program agreement

Source: APM Terminals

Source: APM Terminals

In recent years, Vado Ligure has been at the center of investments for over 100 million euros aimed at the development of ports and inland logistics. The positive data on traffic, investments and employment – with a historic record of tons handled in the Savona and Vado basins of over 15.5 million tons in 2022 – could have been even better in the absence of the critical issues that have affected the area, primarily the fluidity of the motorway network. In order to complete the investments envisaged in the agreement already signed, new interventions foresee to enhance the competitiveness of the port system (environmental sustainability, maritime accessibility, road system) and redevelopment of the waterfront, define measures in favor of economic and social sustainability as well as identify the necessary financial resources. The signing of the Addendum to the Program Agreement in force is expected on 31 May 2023.

Source (in Italian): https://www.portsofgenoa.com/it/news-archivio/4362-addendum-accordo-programma-vado-ligure.html

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