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Bloomberg
Water levels on the Rhine are set to rise over the weekend, potentially providing respite to a crisis that has snarled the shipment of energy products and other goods along one of Europe’s most important rivers.
The marker at Kaub, a narrow and shallow waypoint west of Frankfurt, is set to rise to 67 centimeters, data shows. The compares with a current level of about 38 centimeters.
The level is not the actual depth of the water — which can be several feet deeper — but rather a measure of navigability. At 40 centimeters or below, many barges find it uneconomic to transit that stretch of the waterway.
To be sure, the crisis is far from over, and some vessels are continuing to restrict loads. The low water, the result of hot and dry weather, is exacerbating a historic energy-supply crunch that is fanning inflation across Europe and threatening to tip some of region’s largest economies into recession.