Shippers demand an EU contingency plan for the drought on waterways
The shipping company CMA CGM also publishes surcharges linked to managing the consequences of low water levels in waterways.
The Mercantile Barcelona
August 24, 2026
The European Shippers' Council, the association of European shippers, has called on Brussels to develop a contingency plan to protect logistical interests in the event of weather events that disrupt navigation on the continent's waterways, as is happening this summer on rivers such as the Rhine and the Danube . In what the association calls a "resilience mechanism for inland waterways and supply chains," shippers are requesting that the European Commission provide a framework that combines aid for "transport, infrastructure, and industrial resilience" with "state aid policies" and that can be implemented whenever there are "periods of exceptionally low water levels" that impede the normal flow of goods along these waterways.
“The central principle of the proposal must be simple: European policy must protect the movement of goods, not just the ships that transport them,” the association's statement asserts. Shippers warn that the drop in river levels that the Old Continent is experiencing this summer not only means ships are carrying less cargo, but also entails “higher transport costs, more operational management at terminals, and forces some industries to change their mode of transport, store larger inventories, or reorganize their supply chains.” Therefore, the proposal focuses on “supporting operators to adapt their fleets and operations; investing in climate-resilient waterways, as well as ports, terminals, rail connections, and multimodal infrastructure; and offering targeted assistance to shippers who incur objectively demonstrable additional costs during periods of abnormally low water levels.”
The initiative proposes that assistance be linked to specific, transparent hydrological thresholds in the corridors. In this regard, it envisions a scaling model that distinguishes between 'risk of low water levels,' 'severe low water levels,' and 'exceptional or extreme low water levels,' so that aid is released as each of these thresholds is reached. The shippers also specify that the support plan should not constitute compensation for normal commercial risks or loss of revenue, but rather focus on the exceptional costs generated by the specific situation of the waterways, such as those arising from temporary changes from navigation to rail, additional transshipment, temporary storage in buffer stocks, or investments in more resilient industrial infrastructure.
Shippers request pilot cooperation projects in the main river corridors
As an immediate step, the European Shippers' Council is invited to “develop a common framework for resilience to low water levels” and “provide clarity on how member states can support logistics users.” It is also called upon to “establish principles for calculating exceptional logistics costs” and “promote multimodal industrial investment.” More specifically, the European Shippers' Council is requesting “pilot cooperation projects on the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt, Seine-Scheldt, Rhône-Saône, and Danube corridors.”
Looking to the long term, they also urge the EU to "incentivize the development of industrial locations with dual access, so that strategic production and distribution can simultaneously utilize both inland waterway navigation and rail." Rail transport is currently the primary alternative in the ad hoc contingency plans being implemented by operators and shippers on waterways such as the Rhine.
“The goal is to keep goods moving,” said
Godfried Smit, Secretary General of the European Shippers' Council.
“Europe must move from ad hoc crisis interventions to a predictable system of prevention, adaptation, and targeted emergency support. The goal must be to keep goods moving, even when European rivers are not operating at their usual capacity,” declared Godfried Smit, Secretary General of the European Shippers’ Council. According to his statement, the proposed plan should involve the collaboration of the EU departments DG Move, DG Comp, and DG Regio, as well as Member States, waterway authorities, industry, ports and terminals, logistics users, and transport operators.
CMA CGM JOINS SHIPPING COMPANIES IMPOSING DROUGHT SURCHARGES.
The French shipping company CMA CGM has joined other European shipping giants in imposing surcharges linked to the drought on European rivers. The company cites additional costs due to the crisis, especially for "managing alternative transport options," and points to congestion in major European ports. Therefore, it will charge an additional €50 per container on all orders originating from or destined for Belgium and the Netherlands that pass through the ports of Rotterdam (Netherlands), Antwerp (Belgium), and Zeebrugge (Belgium), and €75 on those handled in the same ports that originate from or are destined for Germany, France, or Switzerland.