The Elbe river 2020 - not just water levels

[notamermaid]

Here is the thread on the Elbe river for 2020.

 

Last year was not too bad for the Elbe as regards drought but it nevertheless showed that again that it is particularly vulnerable to lack of rain. New itineraries have been announced for the Elbe downstream from Magdeburg that can also be booked by those in the Anglo-American market. A German company has made that move (see 2019) - will Viking follow suit and skip the Prague extension in the process? Or will they keep offering the same product - which several weeks during last year made ships stationary? Will new companies attempt the Elbe?

 

Let us hope this will be the best possible year for this fascinating river.

 

Do join us with your comments and tips.

 

Safe travels.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Kiel in Northern Germany is a busy port for cruise ships but river cruise ships are also seen there occasionally. A regional newspaper article was wondering if 2020 might top the already very succesful 2019. Just before New Year's Eve the Junker Jörg was to be the 176th ship of the season to arrive at the harbour. She nearly did not make it. The passengers on the New Year's Eve sailing itinerary got a bit of a shock when the ship ran aground on a sandbank near the small town of Penkefitz. She was stuck for ten hours then freed by two local authority work ships and was able to continue her jorney. Last year I mentioned the "Junker Jörg" and her itineraries that ran till the end of the year, over Christmas and even into the New Year. Her 2020 itineraries again will bring her to Kiel through the Nord-Ostsee-Kanal - the Kiel Canal in english. This is the map if you would like to look up where it is: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2426483-rivers-in-europe-a-map/

 

The Junker Jörg has retired for the winter to Tangermünde, a harbour area there on the Tanger river off the Elbe. The Viking Astrild and the Viking Beyla are nearby. This is the furthest North the two ships will be on the Elbe this year unless the company changes its mind - see post above.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

 

Edited January 17, 2020 by notamermaid
Grammar

[notamermaid]

The Elbe river flows through the Czech Republic and Germany. Leaving the Czech Republic the river enters Saxony as the first state. Let us have a look at Saxony of which the most town internationally is Dresden: https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-16-states-saxony/a-45260052

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

The storm called Sabine in Germany or Chiara in the UK has somewhat expectedly hit Hamburg with a storm surge. Here are some photos from Deutsche Welle: https://www.dw.com/en/sabine-storm-surge-floods-hamburgs-fish-market/a-52351376

 

Not a pleasant time to be on the rivers in Europe. So I am a bit surprised that Viking are starting their Elbe cruises on 11 March. A bit cold, no leaves yet on the trees, not for me really, I would only leave after 20 March at the earliest.

 

notamermaid

 

[gnome12]

43 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

Not a pleasant time to be on the rivers in Europe. So I am a bit surprised that Viking are starting their Elbe cruises on 11 March. A bit cold, no leaves yet on the trees, not for me really, I would only leave after 20 March at the earliest.

Maybe they are hoping to avoid low water issues by having early season departures. ☺️

[notamermaid]

57 minutes ago, gnome12 said:

Maybe they are hoping to avoid low water issues by having early season departures. ☺️

Yes, that could well be. Drought is likely to be an issue again come August, so better to have early departures. Your suggestion prompted me to look up the statistics for flooding on the Elbe on a website called "Undine". I think you can guess what's coming: the most likely month to have extreme flooding in is - March.

 

notamermaid

 

[AnhaltER1960]

After two devastating seasons in a row, a very devastating 2018 and a bit less devastating 2019 on the Elbe, what will the 2020 season bring ?

 

First, water levels were an issue until the end of 2019. Not for Viking, they could resume operating on the river in October and complete their season in November as scheduled. But other ships with deeper draft like the Junker Jörg did not make it upriver an had to cancel their cruises on the middle Elbe in December.

 

Water levels remained an issue in January, as there was almost no precipitation an no real winter, meaning not much snow in the bohemian and saxon hills which could feed a snow melt later in the year. There werent any cruises affected, as there werent any  scheduled. Only in February, some storms brought rain and lifted the water levels at least to the long time average. But if the river does not fill in this time of year, when will it ? There is still a massive water deficit in the meadows and groundwater accompanying the Elbe, so they will hold back plenty of water and not release it to the river.

 

To sum up, I am not all too optimistic for 2020. I do not see flooding in March without snowmelt. Of course, my glass bowl does not see how wet the year will be, but with water levels that low now, there will be trouble in summer, given standard rainfall. 

 

Astrild and Beyla in their winter haven in Tangermünde:

 

[notamermaid]

Hello AnhaltER1960,

 

Thank you for your report and assessment of the situation.

 

Since your post, there has been quite a bit of rain. So for river cruisers - as we have seen, the cruises on Viking start early - here are the figures as they are now: Dresden 226cm, Magdeburg-Strombrücke 248cm. Both figures are within the long-term mean. But as you said, there has not been enough snowfall in Bohemia. And it is relatively warm. I can also realistically see low water levels on the Elbe happening again this year. From when and for how long we will just need to wait and see.

 

The first river cruises look good to go.

 

Edit: River cruisers, if you would like to follow along during the year, checking levels yourself, here is the map of Germany: https://www.bafg.de/EN/06_Info_Service/01_WaterLevels/waterlevels_node.html

Move the mouse over the map and the gauges at the dots will pop up. A click gives you more details.

 

I love the photo of the two ships, do they not gleam lovely in the winter sun, reflected also by the water? Have you thought of lending this to Viking for advertising? But then, it would be misleading as they do not go to Tangermünde on an itinerary. Judging from the photo I think they should! What a great Northern brick skyline.

 

notamermaid

 

Edited March 1, 2020 by notamermaid
added link

[notamermaid]

The troubled Elbe, in more serious trouble now. Just when the river cruising season was about to start Coronavirus hit the tourism industry. Will it mean an end to unimpeded sailing before it even started? The river is at a good level but if things return to near normal by June we are getting close to potential issues with low water on the Elbe in late Summer and into autumn. But let us wait and see. For now we can only hope that the regions along the river will be spared major problems with Coronavirus - currently the East is doing a little better than the West of Germany.

 

Instead of doing a river cruise one can also take a bike and cycle along the long-distance route that follows the river for 1220 kilometres (I am not suggesting you do all of it!): https://m.dw.com/en/10-highlights-on-the-elbe-cycle-route/g-40116473

 

@AnhaltER1960

hope you are doing well.

 

notamermaid

 

[AnhaltER1960]

Serious trouble indeed, somehow I do have a bad rumour in my stomach, which tells me, we will not see any cruise operations on the Elbe this year. With cruises suspended until end of April by Viking (similar with other cruise lines), EU- borders closed for non EU-citizens until April 20th (with the chance to go into extratime), on top, czech border closed for all foreigners open end, there wont be cruises until well into summer, I guess. Maybe June/July. From what Ive heard, Viking were planning to do the boatel job in July/Aug/Sept anyway (they learnt from the last years ...). And the Elbe still suffers from the 2018-draught, so it will need plenty of rain to keep the water level up, yes, maybe that rain will fall.

 

And whether there will be enough customers after the corona-crisis, who regain confidence to travel abroad remains to be seen. Also, how much of that feelgood-factor will be left, which was fuelled by high stock markets and a real estate bubble and boosted the travel and cruise industry in the last years.

 

@notamermaid:thanks, personally I am fine, just havin aaaa lot o' time :-). I hope you are doing well, too.

[notamermaid]

AnhaltER1960,

I am fine, trying to adjust to the new rules that have thrown me out of rhythm. Hardly any contact with colleagues, home office assignments have been put on hold, no interaction with the public possible, so I am basically on holiday, as tourism has stopped existing, sort of.

 

Plenty of time for private projects that had been further down on the "to do" list.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

If this was a normal year we would be well into the river cruising season on the Elbe. And the ships would be able to sail as Dresden river level is at 107cm and Magdeburg-Strombrücke at 107cm, too. Now that is okay but for April quite low. It has not been raining enough, we are enjoying splendid Spring weather in all of Germany. Rain is forecast for Saxony tomorrow but overall it is too dry for nature and to keep the river full of water.

 

The hugely attractive Dresden being close by, this smaller town might not be on everyone's radar, so let us have a look at Pirna with this long article by a relatively new Berlin-based English language website: https://berlinspectator.com/2020/03/16/pirna-saxonys-medieval-beauty-1/ 

 

@AnhaltER1960 

Happy Easter!

 

notamermaid

 

[jpalbny]

Thanks for the article. Now, another destination gets added to the list! Pirna looks beautiful, and close to Dresden (in fact the S-Bahn connects them). From there it is not far to Bad Schandau, and the Kirnitzschtalbahn to Nationalpark Sächsische Schweiz. We will have to stop by Pirna, when we visit that area.

[notamermaid]

@jpalbny Pirna does look attractive, doesn't it? Bad Schandau has long been a health resort destination, i.e. the old kind for taking the waters. The "Bad" in the name was added in 1920, classifying Schandau as an official spa town. Thank you for pointing out the Kirnitzschtalbahn. I did not know about it, I like tramways, especially when they use old rolling stock: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirnitzschtal_tramway 

 

notamermaid

 

P.S.: just for info, if anyone is interested, the level at Dresden has fallen and is currently at 91cm.

Edited April 19, 2020 by notamermaid
Added info

[AnhaltER1960]

Elbe Day, commemorating the meeting of soviet an US-soldiers in and near Torgau  at the end of WWII, is coming up at the end of the week. 75 years ago, on April 25th this historic meeting, truncating the Third Reich into two parts, took place. It is remembered year by year ever since with public events, visits of veterans, even at the coldest years of the Cold War.

 

This year all celebrations have been called off for obvious reasons.

 

Cruising on the Elbe river does not take place until at least mid-June (Croisieurpoe) or end of June (Viking). So water levels wont be an issue until then. However, spring so far war far too dry, there hasnt been any rain since mid-March. Consequently the water level has fallen constantly since.   Notamermaid has mentioned Dresden level with a snapshot of 91 cm - low, but still enough for sailing. But without rain it will be another two or three weeks until the ships are grounded.

 

No good prospects for cruising the Elbe in the upcoming months, maybe even for the rest of this year. The German government has rules out large gatherings until end of August (even the Munich Oktoberfest has been called off). Unclear yet how these "large gatherings" break down to cruise ships and their land excursions. Entering Germany requires a 14 day-quarantaine until who knows And, finally, there are rumours that the Czech Republic might close their border for one year (not really just rumours, Milos Zeman, President of the Republic spoke about that) .

[notamermaid]

@AnhaltER1960

Thank you for mentioning Torgau. Here is an article on that decisive meeting's commemoration from Deutsche Welle: https://www.dw.com/en/trump-putin-hail-us-russia-ties-on-wwii-elbe-meeting-anniversary/a-53243305 

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

To be able to sail the German Elbe the river needs to be fed by rainfall and snow melt in the Czech Republic. According to the Czech authorities decreased rainfall has much reduced the groundwater table in recent years. A disaster for agriculture and fresh water supply. And it is also worrying for sailing the Elbe upstream from Magdeburg. Only the German companies and CroisiEurope sail into the Czech Republic these days. Who knows for how long this will still make sense economically, Viking gave this up a few years ago. With borders closed and social distancing in place, will any river cruises take place this year on the Elbe? I can see the German companies trying to make an effort and CroisiEurope could try and fill the ships with Germans. But will it be in time before low water takes hold of the river?

 

https://www.reuters.com/article/czech-water-idUSL8N2CH3I4

 

With Dresden at 88cm there is a risk that river cruises on the upper section of the navigable Elbe will not be sailed any time soon, if at all. Our Viking boatel conversation last year is coming back into my mind. This is the graph showing the downward trend, a spike can happen with a huge downpour or the Czech Republic releasing water from a dam:

 

I will say it again: Viking should seriously consider scrapping Prague as an extension (i.e. convenient fly-into sightseeing hub) and offer sailing downstream from Magdeburg towards the North Sea. Hamburg is amazing. And they already have a pre-cruise offer with transfer to Berlin so know their way around the Northern city. But I admit Prague is still alluring, although over-crowded (in normal times). But who knows what will happen to tourism...

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[AnhaltER1960]

In a normal year we now would start looking into water level of the Elbe. The effects of last week's rain is gone and the Dresden reading has reached a level, which proved critical in the last years. Dresden reading is at 76 cm now.

 

For the time being noone is bothered, as the Elbe cruises are called off until well into June (Croisieurope) or end of June (Viking). It needs lots of rain until then to make the ships sailing then. Viking has planned boatel in July through September anyway.

 

River Cruising is too small as a business to be in the radar of Corona directives, so we sont have any specific regulations there. But to transfer regulations in place for restaurants, scheduled to open sometime in May with capacity restrictions, it means reduced capacity against more effort (service insteas of buffet), a combination controllers dont like. Excoursions are hardly possible, as leisure coach travel keep being forbidden as well as large gatherings in public space, which includes guided tours. Quietvox systems might be a solution outdoors, but not for indoor visits, as you cannot keep distances there. Museums are allowed to open now, but do not offer guided tours.

 

In an earlier post I expressed my doubts on a cruising season on the Elbe this year. These doubts are getting "louder".

[notamermaid]

On 5/9/2020 at 11:30 AM, AnhaltER1960 said:

River Cruising is too small as a business to be in the radar of Corona directives, so we sont have any specific regulations there. But to transfer regulations in place for restaurants, scheduled to open sometime in May with capacity restrictions, it means reduced capacity against more effort (service insteas of buffet), a combination controllers dont like.

 

It is not easy to get any specific info here in my state (I am still looking into it - will perhaps use my work contacts) but regulations for excursion boats are the same as for restaurants here. River cruising is not mentioned in the official literature for Rhineland-Palatinate.

 

The Quietvox and similar systems could prove a "god sent" for excursion and tourist guides this year. Those people are hard hit by it all, I wonder if there is a government scheme through which they can get financial help? Some are volunteers, some are employed by the local councils, some with other contracts, some are self-employed.

 

Social distancing I expect to continue for longer than 4 June, so we will see how CroisiEurope and Viking (and the other companies) need to adapt to that on the Elbe.

 

Or alternatively they could scrap the year altogether, seeing that the river is low, as you said. Like you, I also think that - at least for Viking - the season could be over before it has begun. But no doubt, Viking will continue to offer to put passengers onto the boatels. Perhaps a few dates in October and November might work and CroisiEurope should have fewer problems with the paddle wheelers and the itinerary going North to Hamburg.

 

On 5/2/2020 at 3:38 PM, notamermaid said:

Only the German companies and CroisiEurope sail into the Czech Republic these days. Who knows for how long this will still make sense economically, Viking gave this up a few years ago. With borders closed and social distancing in place, will any river cruises take place this year on the Elbe?

I need to correct this. Viking still has the port of Decin in the Elbe itinerary (that is on the Czech Elbe) but scrapped the sailing on the Vltava river into Prague a few years ago.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

The "German Stonehenge"

 

On the Elbe river between Dessau and Magdeburg lies a small town called Barby. The town has got a suburb called Pömmelte. Unassuming countryside to most and I had certainly never heard of it before. But as so often happens in science, was is a non-entity to laymen raises blood pressure and puts a spark into the eyes of a few. Pömmelte has been dubbed the German Stonehenge as a Bronze Age ring of earthworks with striking similarity to Stonehenge in England was discovered in 2005/2006. Now new excavations have started to shed light on who might have lived there: https://www.dw.com/en/who-lived-near-pömmelte-the-german-stonehenge/a-53051585

 

As we are in a river cruising thread I wondered of course if this might be a suitable excursion on a river cruise. I would certainly be interested. Dessau and Magdeburg are ports close enough to reach Pömmelte in good time. I do not know if Barby has a dock large enough for river cruise ships.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

With river cruising returning v e r y slowly it is time to have another look at the Elbe. Magdeburg-Strombrücke gauge is at 66cm, Dresden at 70cm. That is too low for comfortable sailing for ships (which can still sail depends on the individual draft of each ship and what the captain decides is safe). Rain from Thursday to Monday in Saxony and Bohemia should help. No ships are sailing yet as far as I know but Plantours looks to open the post lock down season on the river on 17 June with an itinerary from Berlin to Kiel. This route avoids the shallows at Magdeburg so that makes me more hopeful that they will be able to sail the whole itinerary.

 

CroisiEurope will be back on the river from July and I am glad to read that the "Junker Jörg" will also be sailing in July.

 

notamermaid

 

Edited June 3, 2020 by notamermaid
Grammar

[AnhaltER1960]

Two consecutive years of low water plus corona were too much for the Dresden fleet of paddle steamers. The "Saxon Steamboat Shipping Company", which runs the largest fleet of paddle steamers worldwide, nine ships, filed for bankruptcy today. Ships continue to operate, but the future of this company and the Dresden White Fleet, which offer day excursions up and downriver from Dresden to Saxon Switzerland and to Meissen is uncertain.

[notamermaid]

Oh, that is sad, sad indeed, is there a kitty I can put money in to help them? Can somebody pass a hat round? I cannot imagine anybody would want to let the fleet go. I hope the administrators come up with a good solution.

 

notamermaid

 

Edited June 3, 2020 by notamermaid
changed word

[notamermaid]

While the Dresden paddle steamer fleet is in trouble, sailing on the Elbe has returned for the river cruise ships. Plantours is sailing with the Sans Souci. CroisiEurope will follow soon.

 

Although sailing looked bleak a few weeks ago, the Elbe has been favoured by weather patterns in June and the river levels are good. Dresden 201cm, Magdeburg 183cm.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Let us return to the Elbe briefly. Contrary to our worries, the Elbe is actually having enough water for doing quite a bit of sailing - most of the time. Here is the graph for the last month at Dresden:

The MNW means mean low water and that is definitely too low for sailing. It needs to be a bit above that. How much depends on the individual ship's draft. As I write the level at Dresden is at 127cm.

 

The European lines are sailing and one of them, the relatively new VIVA Cruises, have some interesting itineraries for the Winter. The ship is the Swiss Ruby and she sails the stretch Berlin (Spree and Havel rivers) to Hamburg (Elbe) in December - or vice versa: https://www.viva-*****/en/cruisedetail/?id=16&startDate=2020-12-05&dur=7&endDate=2020-12-12&adults=2&children=

There is even a Christmas cruise. But if you prefer to do the "Northern route" crossing Germany you can go from Düsseldorf to Berlin.

 

notamermaid