HAMBURG, Germany (Reuters) -The Mosel River in Germany will remain closed to cargo shipping in January despite the success of a temporary lock helping to free vessels trapped on the river after an accident, navigation authorities said on Thursday.
The temporary lock will not permit a reduced level of cargo shipping to operate on the river while repairs to a damaged lock start in the new year, said a spokesperson for German inland navigation agency WSA.
Germany’s federal transport ministry said separately that a resumption of normal shipping along the Mosel could be possible in early February 2024.
The river, an important transit route for grains and rapeseed between Germany and France, was closed to inland waterways shipping last week, trapping 74 river freighters after an accident with a vessel which damaged a lock at Mueden south of Koblenz. Repairs are likely to last until spring 2025.
A temporary lock opened on Monday has been more successful than expected and 26 of the trapped vessels have now been freed, the WSA spokesperson said.
Around nine trapped ships are expected to be freed each day against initial expectations of five to six vessels daily, with all vessels expected to leave by the end of December.
But the Mosel will be closed to shipping when the last trapped vessels leave and the temporary lock will not permit a reduced level of cargo shipping to operate while repairs to the damaged lock are carried out, starting in January.
“Shipping will have to stop while repairs to the damaged lock are carried out in the new year,” he said. “We currently cannot say exactly how long the repairs will last as this is still being assessed, but naturally we will seek to finish the repair work as fast as possible.”
European rapeseed futures rose last week after trading platform Euronext announced it will suspend physical delivery to river ports in eastern France for the February contract, following the Mosel blockage.
A Euronext spokesperson said despite progress in clearing blocked vessels, the current situation did not allow the exchange to reopen the French delivery points for the February maturity.
(Reporting by Michael Hogan, additional reporting by Gus Trompiz, editing by Angus MacSwan and Jane Merriman)
