notamermaid

There is a weather warning in place for much of the Upper Rhine valley and the hills to the East, like the Breisgau and the Swabian Alb. As I write, it is not raining in Basel. Here is the webcam showing one of the bridges: https://www.feratel.com/webcams/schweiz/basel.html Current temperature is 15.8 Celsius. A bit cool for a May afternoon. It is only just a little warmer where I am, around 18 Celsius. In the webcam of Bingen I think I can see the new "The Gentleman" docked at Rüdesheim on 21 May. Hmm, I still like the design. notamermaid

The weather continues to be rainy, more scattered strong showers are sweeping over the Vosges mountains and Germany, so that the river will stay fairly high. Maxau gauge forecast suggests a return to official flood vigilance later today. This means on the other hand, the plus side, that Kaub gauge will stay high, that is over 300cm, into the first week of June most likely. So the river is far away from creating low water issues. As regards the buoy at Rüdesheim. You can see the missing green one at about the Boosenburg on this webcam: https://heimatzeithotels.panomax.com/ In the archive on Tuesday, 21.05. at 14:00 the buoy is still there, at 14:10 it is gone. notamermaid

Flooding is a challenge and when river cruising is not suspended, navigation as such is still okay, there is the problem with the headroom under bridges. On the Moselle there are a few bridges as candidates for problems. In Cochem we have seen that one bridge is fairly high but the challenge are its arche in the strong current. At Koblenz there is a bigger issue. Here is an article with photo of ship and arch: https://www.blick-aktuell.de/Berichte/Hochwasser-Treibgut-stellt-Schifffahrt-vor-Herausforderungen-591588.html Admittedly, the ship does not need to sail that arch, as it is the docking area. That bridge has been altered so that ships can pass under it. The article talks of the challenge of debris coming down the river and getting caught in the anchor chains and potentially damaging the hull. The solution was docking on the Rhine instead. I commented on that river being busier than usual at Koblenz and that is at least part of the explanation. In this photo (text says that the flooding has reached Koblenz) we see the ship from a different angle and, my, is the Moselle dirty and fast! https://www.blick-aktuell.de/Berichte/Mosel-Hochwasser-erreicht-Koblenz-591586.html Ships that were due to sail the Moselle obviously had to wait at Koblenz or re-route while the river was impassable. Let us have a look at the flooding and the situation at the bridges in this video: The camera travels from the Staustufe (lock and dam) downstream towards the mouth. First comes the Europabrücke, a modern road bridge - no problem. But at the bridge is the approach to the embankment called Peter-Altmeier-Ufer. That is where the river cruise ships dock further on. That road stretch is flooded. At 1:40 you can see all three bridges. The second is the railway bridge where on the left the arches are a challenge for the ships. It is the approach to the lock. The third bridge is the Balduinbrücke. You recognize the photo shot through the arches onto the Arosa river cruise ship I posted with the article. On the left the Balduinbrücke had its arches removed. I find it fascinating how the drone has captured so well the difference in colour of the two rivers. They almost always differ in colour but with the Moselle flooding the difference is more dramatic. And if you wanted to go on an excursion from Koblenz to Winningen for a wine tasting that would have proved a challenge. The roads where flooded. notamermaid

Thank you, you beat me to it. Much of the water is as you say coming from Bohemia; I read that the Berounka river is high (Bohemian Forest) so that water will be in Prague soon and feed the Vltava and Elbe nicely. I belatedly read on schiffe-und-kreuzfahrten.de that the cruise on the Elbe of the Katharina von Bora (nicko cruises) from 20th to 27th April was cancelled due to low water. The ship is considerably smaller than the two Viking ships but apparently is stated as having the bigger draft. notamermaid

Best to check the opening times of markets as 24 November can be a bit early, especially in traditional regions where Sunday of the Dead is observed as a quiet religious day. notamermaid

This looks like the best solution for you two. Just two more things to be aware of. Christmas markets can be very crowded. Advent is cold with sometimes icy conditions which make walking on European pavements in historic cities a challenge. One tip: large hotels may be able to assist you with finding out about scooters, I have read of cities being able to help you with that sort of thing at tourist information centres. Some cities also have small tourist road trains to take you around. I hope you find a great area to stay in and have a magical time at the markets. notamermaid

The website did not work yesterday, now it is back. Hey, presto, the Heidelberg is no longer listed. In the Danube thread we have had more conversation - the MS Heidelberg appears to have been sold to the Chinese. A comprehensive report from Hungary: https://hungarytoday.hu/fatal-collision-between-speedboat-and-hotel-boat-on-the-danube/ German news says that another body has been recovered. notamermaid

Thank you, that is an area into which I did not look, geographically. The timeline is correct, the ship was deleted from the Swiss register in March and this gentleman who had worked on repairs posted farewell photos on facebook on 28 March: https://www.hugo-dircks.de/home.html The MS Heidelberg was sold to the Chinese, he says. notamermaid

The river levels have fallen really well, Trier gauge is at 496cm. The Saar river is right down to good levels, that is below flood vigilance, albeit still above the mean. This was the scenario on the Saar at Fremersdorf: Good to see the ships sailing on the Moselle River, quite busy on the ship tracker websites today. notamermaid

While doing a bit of research on the MS Heidelberg, I came across the webcam of Engelhartszell. A really good one with an archive search function. Here it is. A busy place these days with river cruise ships. And a very attractive Baroque monastery, looks an even prettier setting than I had expected: https://engelhartszell.panomax.com/penzenstein Today's footage shows the MS Heidelberg indeed docked there, as I expected from her signal yesterday. Reports have stated that she would return to Passau from Budapest. That may still happen, but Engelhartszell is very much an alternative embarkation port (for Passau) for German river cruise ships these days. Still no clue as to which company is chartering the ship. If you happen to be in Engelhartszell yourself, perhaps you happen to "bump into" some info. notamermaid

That is nice. Have been to Berlin and Prague but have not sailed on either the Spree or the Vltava on a boat. Incidentally, the Berounka appears to be high right now. The heavy rain came down over the forests but not the Vltava and Elbe so much. But as the Berounka drains into the Vltava the Elbe will see quite a bit of water coming from there. How that will play out in water levels we will have a look at in the other thread. But back to the Danube. Regensburg is seeing the elevated levels of the Regen but not a big deal. Passau is already down again and stayed under 600cm as expected. notamermaid

Correction of the info on the ship accident. The tanker did not hit another ship. They passed each other near the bridge. The ship will remain in Cochem and does not hinder traffic on the river. notamermaid

In other news. A fire broke out during the night Tuesday into Wednesday on a river cruise ship in Arnhem. The Bellejour is docked there as a boat for asylum seekers. Another ship, the MS VistaRio is used as such a boat. She is docked in Meppel and replaced the MS Heidelberg earlier this year which sailed to the Danube and has just been involved in an accident. I know of two more river cruise ships used for purposes that they were not designed for, one is on the Danube and one more is on the Rhine. That is the MS Viola, used for Ukranians. At Rüdesheim, a river cruise ship hit a buoy while turning and tore it from its anchorage. The ship sailed on without reporting the damage but another's ships crew saw it and reported it to the police. The MS Porto Mirante, the 40th ship of Scylla, was christened in Düsseldorf earlier this month. She is now in Boven-Hardinxveld in the Netherlands, awaiting her transport to Portugal. notamermaid

Mysticinvest is the company that took over the Nicko Cruises brand after the collapse: https://www.pluta.net/en/press/press-release/restructuring-expert-mr-michael-pluta-sells-nicko-cruises-to-mystic-invest.html This may or may not mean that the ship was with Nicko Cruises. Ships often belong to some one else, like is the case with the Scylla ships sailing for various companies. It is a curious case with the ship. As noted by "swiss ships" the KFGS* Heidelberg was deleted from the Swiss register, they give the date as 28.3.2024. https://www.swiss-ships.ch/news/news.html That would almost coincide with the sailing from Köln-Niehl harbour to Budapest (or further) and the change of livery noted in a photo from 1 April. According to the news reports the ship was on an itinerary with passengers, I presume a return trip Engelhartszell. Something that happens often with German cruise lines these days. But it is not clear what the nationality of the passengers is. The ship is due to arrive at Engelhartszell during the night. *KFGS is Kabinenfahrgastschiff, the official German word for a river cruise ship. None of that explains why on earth the tragedy happened. I just find it interesting to note the recent history of the ship. notamermaid

In the Danube thread I wrote: quote "It appears that Nicko Cruises is not running the MS Heidelberg this year. I guess it is a different, perhaps only part-season, charter by someone else. The company offering the MS Heidelberg for charter is this one: https://www.starlingfleet.com/en/our-fleet/ " end quote When I click on the link it does not work, i.e. some host message comes up. Odd. Perhaps it works with you from a different country. notamermaid

The forecast at Maxau gauge has been amended for the better, now there appears to be not another peak, let us call it a more undulating graph. The level will stay high overall, also because it has rained in Switzerland where levels are above average in lakes and rivers, but pleasant. notamermaid

The Bavarian Forest has seen a lot of rain which will drain into the Danube via the Regen river to a large degree. That is the river that gives Regensburg its name. As of now, we are seeing a rise at Passau but staying under 600cm most likely in the next 24 hours. Now at 584cm. notamermaid

I have put a bit of info in the Danube thread. After some digging I gave up on figuring out the current info on the ship. Nicko Cruises gave the ship up with the end of the season in 2022. Nicko Cruises was never the owner, it was a long term charter with Nicko branding. notamermaid

Bridges. On the Moselle they are generally relatively high when they are modern, but there are a few lower ones, old with arches. That always poses a problem. In Koblenz a bridge lost almost half of its arches when the lock was built in such a way as to bring the river to modern waterway status. I am picking up on this topic for two reasons. Firstly, an interesting article with photo that I will share later. Secondly, the fact that the Viking Herja is still docked at Koblenz, now for over 48 hours. As I understand it, she is doing the itineraries on the Moselle. I do not know details. Now the Viking Idi has arrived in Koblenz, another ship that sails on the Moselle. Not sure if they are connected "ship swap style" like the company does it on the Basel to Amsterdam itineraries on the Rhine with other ships. If you know more, folks, please share: I notice that neither of them are at the Viking Steiger, that is Viking's own landing stage. I guess this will soon be occupied by the B to A itinerary ships. notamermaid

More details. The tanker first collided with a ship sailing downstream and then hit the bridge arch with the wheelhouse. Thankfully, it was confirmed that there was no leakage but the tanker was deemed unsafe to manoeuvre, the radar and instruments having suffered damage. The bridge is under structural investigation, as I understand it, but I do not read that it is closed. The river is of course still high so navigation under bridges is more tricky. With embankment roads partially closed and some low lying villages and streets flooded, the tourist regions of the Moselle have suffered great losses over this past holiday weekend. notamermaid

The rain has drifted much into Bavaria so we will see a reaction of the rivers in due course. For now it appears that this will not be considerable. There should still be plenty of headroom under the bridge in Passau. notamermaid

A tanker has hit the old bridge at Cochem. Earlier this evening the ship drifted too far to the left towards one of the arches and suffered considerable damage to the wheelhouse. One crew member sustained a mild injury, the captain seems okay. No leakage. It is no yet clear how much damage there is to the bridge. notamermaid

You could always jump ship and company and sail with CroisiEurope or Viva Cruises. But even with those companies it is not a guarantee, just a lower price (I think) and a different experience, i.e. more European. The Elbe is a trickier river with more uncertainty than others and Viking as well as the other companies have adapted to that. Still, as one can see from AnhalterER1960's excellent research, a river cruise on the free-flowing Elbe is not guaranteed to run even with the specially designed ships and the summer gaps. May is overall a good month though. notamermaid

The river is recovering well, with all stations up to Rees now showing declining levels. That means the wave is now at the border with the Netherlands. With the lower temperatures and the continued rainy weather we will not see the levels at the gauges going down much more. At Maxau a new wave is indicated for the 25th but as of now does not look as high as the one that has just passed over the weekend. Kaub will of course also remain high and most likely stay above 300cm for a week. It has been a wet winter that has replenished the water table more than previous winters have been able to. The spring rain has added to that. I show you what I mean, the gauge at Maxau is running well above the long-term mean on many days as regards water levels. 2024 so far, the blue line: So while the rain is a bit annoying, overall this gives us plenty of water in the soil and me a good feeling for days without any rain in summer. But, never a guarantee with the rivers... You can see the wide range of figures at Maxau and by how much the level can vary any time of year. notamermaid

The size of ship is actually an interesting point to make. Just a bit of info on that. Ships on the European rivers are maximum 135m in length due to locks and regulations, with some rivers and canals needing smaller ships. 110m or what I call the "in-betweeners" used to be the norm. These days if the river allows it, almost all newly built ships are 135m. The width varies a lot but 11.5m is the width to go for in ship design these days (again, if the river allows it). Just to add to Daisi's info: There are two other ships on the Danube that are wider than 11.5m and the new Arosa Sena is also wider, but only sailing the Rhine downstream from Cologne. For space these are great ships to look at, I will admit that the Sena is geared towards families, which you may not want on your river cruise. The small advantage of shorter ships - that is 110m to 135m - is the fact that they tend to have a lower draft, good for the crucial centimetres between sailing and not sailing in low water conditions. I would not base my decision solely on that, I just thought I would add it to the info. The advantage will mostly help on the German Danube but can in some years help on the Rhine as well. notamermaid