Mannheim / Altrip (dpa / lsw) - The low water in the Rhine means large detours for numerous ferry users. On Wednesday morning, the ferry between Mannheim in northern Baden and Altrip in Rhineland-Palatinate was put out of service. The loss of this connection alone affects 2,000 to 2,200 drivers, cyclists and pedestrians every day, said the managing director of the Rhine ferry Altrip GmbH, Jürgen Jacob, of the German Press Agency.
The reason for this is the low water level of only 80 centimeters at the landing site in Altrip. But a good 90 centimeters are needed. Most recently, the ferry did not run for 44 days in 2018 due to a lack of water. According to Jacob, the water level at the Mannheim level is 2.90 meters under normal circumstances - but now it is 1.30 meters.
Because of the adverse conditions, the Brühl Koller ferry between Brühl (Rhein-Neckar district) and the Kollerinsel had temporarily given up its service the day before. The connection between Leimersheim in Rhineland-Palatinate and Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen in Baden-Württemberg (Karlsruhe district) is also currently unusable. On the other hand, the "BADEN-PFALZ" ferry continues to commute between Neuburg in the Palatinate and Neuburgweier, which belongs to Rheinstetten (Karlsruhe district).
According to Jacob, there are 40 to 45 ferries crossing the Rhine between Basel and Cologne. According to the Waterways and Shipping Office, there are no disturbances on the Neckar because the water depth is always at least 2.80 meters due to barrages.
