Downunder VoicesAustralia · New Zealand · World
Back to Trade & Logistics
Trade & Logistics

10 August 2026

Congestion fear as ‘unnavigable’ Rhine means cargo shift to road and rail

Downunder Voices Newsroom

Source reporting: The Loadstar

FacebookEmail
Congestion fear as ‘unnavigable’ Rhine means cargo shift to road and rail

Water levels along the Rhine are continuing to fall, as repeated heatwaves across Europe prolong drought, with shipping bosses now warning the river could effectively be being “split in two”, as carriers slap new surcharges on all modes. MSC announced on Friday it had introduced a wave of “traffic congestion surcharges” for rail, trucking, and rail-truck transport from/to Antwerp and Rotterdam via Andernach, Frankfurt, Germersheim Munich, Nurnberg, Neuss, Strasbourg, Trier, and ... The post Congestion fear as ‘unnavigable’ Rhine means cargo shift to road and rail appeared first on The Loadstar .

About this report

Downunder Voices provides an independently written summary and community perspective based on information published by the original source. The original publisher remains responsible for its reporting.

Join our community

Follow Downunder Voices

Join thousands of readers following news and community stories from Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific.

Follow on FacebookSubmit your story

More from Trade & Logistics

View category
Interview with Peter Mantel, Chief Commercial Officer at Theyr: The Next Evolution of Voyage OptimisationTrade & Logistics

10 August 2026

Interview with Peter Mantel, Chief Commercial Officer at Theyr: The Next Evolution of Voyage Optimisation

Artificial intelligence is becoming an increasingly important part of shipping, but according to Peter Mantel, Chief Commercial Officer at Theyr, the industry’s biggest challenge is not the technology itself. It is building trust in the systems, improving the quality of operational data and giving crews and operators the confidence to make better-informed decisions. In the latest episode of CN Talks , Antonia Saratsopoulou, Managing Editor of Container News, spoke with Mantel about the evolution of voyage optimisation, the limitations of traditional noon reporting, the growing importance of high-frequency vessel data and why the future of voyage planning lies in balancing operational, commercial and environmental priorities through explainable technology. Trust, not technology is the biggest challenge Mantel sees strong parallels between today’s adoption of AI-powered voyage optimisation and the maritime industry’s transition from paper charts to Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems (ECDIS). Although ECDIS offered clear operational and safety benefits, its adoption was gradual because mariners first needed to trust the technology.

Source: Container NewsOriginal source
An open-source TMS: the machine room must be openTrade & Logistics

10 August 2026

An open-source TMS: the machine room must be open

Today we have an op-ed by Newton Davis, co-founder of Janus, a fintech focused on shipment-level financial clarity for ocean & air freight forwarders, and Raoul Wintjes, head of international road haulage, air freight & digitalisation at DSLV, the Association for Freight Forwarding and Logistics Germany. Somewhere inside every freight forwarder’s operation is a system that almost no one outside the industry has heard of – and that almost no one ... The post An open-source TMS: the machine room must be open appeared first on The Loadstar .

Source: The LoadstarOriginal source
Booming exports from the Far East see trade gaps wideningTrade & Logistics

10 August 2026

Booming exports from the Far East see trade gaps widening

Trade imbalances on exports from the Far East to most major global regions have continued to worsen, creating challenges for container carriers and increasing costs for head-haul shippers, according to a new report from Sea-Intelligence. The maritime analyst found that four of the six major ex-Asia trades have backhaul utilisation of 30% or less, based on a rolling 12-month analysis designed to remove seasonal effects. The imbalance ratio measured loaded backhaul volume ... The post Booming exports from the Far East see trade gaps widening appeared first on The Loadstar .

Source: The LoadstarOriginal source

Read Next

View latest