The deepening of the Elbe was only officially declared complete in January, but the point of the controversial project seems to be questioned afterwards: the responsible authority has to restrict shipping traffic because apparently too much silt gets into the fairway.
The deepening of the Elbe, which was only declared completed by the federal government at the end of January, threatens to become a fiasco after only ten months due to the large amounts of silt. The Federal Waterways and Shipping Directorate (WSW) had already decided at the beginning of the month to limit the navigable water depth of the tidal Elbe by one meter from December 1st to November 30th, 2023. Now its President Hans-Heinrich Witte said that it could take "three to five years" for the river bed to reach the planned depth again through dredging work.
Originally, the more than 800 million euro adjustment of the fairway was intended to increase the permissible draft for freighters from 12.50 to 13.50 meters, regardless of the tide. According to the Federal Directorate-General for Waterways and Shipping, there are only improvements in draft of 20 to 90 centimeters compared to the time before the Elbe was deepened. This means that large container ships have significantly less leeway to transport their goods across the Elbe. The approximately 130-kilometer section between Hamburg and the North Sea is one of the most important waterways in Europe.
The reason for the restriction of the water depth are apparently bottlenecks at the federal authority. The WSW states that they asked the Hamburg Port Authority (HPA) for help with the dredging work. "In order to increase maintenance capacities, it is planned that HPA will take over the tender for additional dredging capacities." Hamburg's Economics Senator Michael Westhagemann reacted with surprise. "Honestly, we were not so clearly aware that there were staff shortages in the federal government," said the non-party politician.
A spokesman for the Hamburg shipping company Hapag-Lloyd announced that the restrictions are currently not a problem. The routes of the large container freighters have always been designed in such a way that the ships have already unloaded parts of the cargo in Rotterdam or Antwerp before entering Hamburg. It could become difficult if severe drought leads to low water levels or if a strong easterly wind blows constantly. Then the ships would have to do without containers in the three to four-digit range, said the spokesman.
The Federal Directorate-General for Waterways and Shipping explained that the reason for the restriction of the depths was strong storm surges that followed in quick succession and a lack of headwater as well as the consequences of the fairway adjustment. This leads temporarily to increased sedimentation." According to research by the "NDR", this is currently the case. Worse - more is being dredged to maintain the fairway than for the deepening of the river itself and still it is not enough. The WSW says this : "A third dredger is planned for this year".
