Low water level leads to traffic jam in the Maas

The VHF radio, on board Rein Bron’s (55) ship, does not sound the nicest messages on Tuesday afternoon. There is grumbling and sometimes swearing. Bron is sitting in the wheelhouse of his barge, which is stationary in front of the lock in Grave.

He’s been there for a while. Since Monday 1 p.m., Bron says. There is a crackle through the VHF radio, a skipper complains, and yet another voice says: “That’s because of the shitty mentality of those tugboats!” Source hears it. “Yes, that’s frustration.” Skippers react to each other. “And to the lock master,” says Bron disapprovingly. “He can’t do anything about it.”

Indeed, the lock master cannot do anything about the drought that has been plaguing Europe for weeks. As a result, inland skippers sometimes have to wait longer or can take less cargo with them. It all has to do, directly or indirectly, with the fact that the water in the IJssel, Waal and Maas is much lower than usual at this time of year.

Rein Bron, who wanted to enter the Maas via the Waal to get a load of sand in Heijen in North Limburg, normally goes via the Maas-Waal Canal and through the lock at Weurt, on the Waal on the north side of Nijmegen. That is the fastest and most logical route for ships.

But in April, one of the two ‘vortices’, the passages in locks in which ships sail, closed for maintenance. The repair is expected to be completed by the end of August.

And on July 21, the second chamber also closed, this time due to the low water level. Ships could no longer enter there. So now all ship traffic has to pass through the lock in Grave, on the Maas south of Nijmegen. That means extra pressure. Especially because ships – again due to the low water – can carry less cargo. That means more ships for the same cargo. To make matters worse, the lock in Grave also broke down on Sunday afternoon, and became operational again on Monday night.

The green and white inland vessel ‘Alexandra’ of Edyta van Bommel (41) is finally in the lock on Tuesday, after more than a day of waiting. “It is more difficult to sail at low tide,” says Van Bommel in the doorway of her wheelhouse, while the water flows into the chamber and Van Bommel’s head slowly comes to the level of the quay.

Screaming and grumbling

“The river is narrower”, says Van Bommel, “everyone has to go through the same smaller channel. There is sometimes yelling and grumbling.” The wheelhouse rises higher, above the quay. “And I can take less with me,” Van Bommel continues the list of disadvantages. Where it normally transports about 1,400 tons of coal, that is now 800 tons.

It’s not just trouble at low tide. Some inland skippers rub their hands when the water level drops. Then they ask for a so-called low water surcharge to compensate charterers. “Not me,” says Van Bommel. “I earn a daily prize.” The ship rises even more, the quay is now far below Van Bommel’s feet. The lock gates open and she can go sailing.

Rein Bron has a contract with a client and does not benefit from surcharges. “Normally I sail two loads a week to cover the costs, that’s not possible now.”

He had planned to unload on Thursday, but he is still on his way to Heijen to get his load of sand. Unloading will be Monday. “It is impossible to make a plan like this. In better times I have to catch up.” And sailing itself is more risky. Normally there is 2.5 to 3 meters between his ship and the bottom, now in some places that distance is “only a coke bottle high”. “With the cap off,” laughs Bron.

Bron finds it miserable, but he remains cheerful and keeps a cool head, it seems. Maybe because he hasn’t sailed that long. He was a bookkeeper for 25 years before deciding to sail. “I just get paid to look out the window,” he grins. His daughter Tara (25) laughs happily. She uses the time on board to write her thesis.

Inland vessels currently have to wait longer at locks in more places. Because of the drought, Rijkswaterstaat applies a ‘regime of economical locks’. Where normally a ship that arrives can immediately enter a lock, there is now a longer wait until more ships report. Every time a ship goes through the lock, water is moved from higher up the river to the lower part. This is at the expense of the water level.

Farmer’s handkerchief

“Everyone is affected by the low water,” says inland shipping skipper Jan de Boer (59) from Urk as he empties a bowl of yogurt into the doorway of his cabin. He is waiting at the very back until he can enter the lock. Because more ships are now needed for the same cargo, skippers demand higher prices, according to the law of supply and demand.

“Ultimately, the consumer will pay for that price increase,” says de Boer. He wipes his mouth with a farmer’s handkerchief. The skipper thinks it could become difficult to sail on the Waal if the water level drops even further. He fears a sailing ban. “But I can’t say for sure.” On parts of the IJssel, the fairway has already become so narrow that an overtaking ban is in force.

De Boer is not too concerned about low water and drought in the long term. „I have been a fisherman for a long time, after seven lean years we often got seven fat ones. I do not believe that the low water is due to climate change. I am a Christian. There is only one person who has anything to say about nature, and that one is above.”

Rein Bron does feel that low water has become an increasing problem in recent years. He thinks it has to do with climate change. “Absolute!” He has the KNMI on his side. Research has shown that the recent dry summers do not have anything to do with climate change. But climate change does increase the risk of drought in the future. “But yes, if you start tackling that problem now, then I won’t see anything change.”

For now, Bron has a solution to ensure that he can carry just as large a load as with a normal water level: instead of crossing the Waal and the IJssel, he goes all the way via the Maas (where the water is a bit higher) to the west and through all kinds of channels to its final destination in Friesland. “But that’s a big deal.”