Hamburg, Bremerhaven and four other German ports are moving into post-strike recovery while low Rhine levels threaten barge capacity. The inland leg is now the part of the booking worth checking closely.
The 24-hour warning strike at six German seaports has ended. The harder question for freight teams is what happens to the cargo that now needs to move inland.
Workers at Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Bremen, Wilhelmshaven, Emden and Brake took part in a warning strike running from the evening of 17 August through 18 August. Hapag-Lloyd warned customers that operations at the affected ports could be disrupted during the action.
At the same time, Rhine water levels have fallen far enough for Contargo to warn that extensive operational measures may be required at short notice. If forecasts force regular barge services to parts of the Upper Rhine, Middle Rhine and Rhine-Main network to be suspended, affected containers would have to move primarily by rail or truck.
That makes the post-strike recovery worth watching. The German seaports are not all directly dependent on the Rhine, but trimodal freight networks serving the Rhine corridor and Germany’s North Sea gateways use many of the same rail and road alternatives. A short terminal disruption can therefore leave cargo re-entering an inland network with less flexibility than usual. (....)