Danube Freezes Hampering Trade

The Danube River, Central Europe's key waterway, has frozen in several places, bringing trade in the region to a halt. Unlike most of Europe, which has diversified away from water-based freight transport, Central European countries on the Danube still rely heavily on the river for trade.

Extremely low temperatures in the past few weeks in Europe have caused several of the continent's inland waterways to freeze, particularly the Danube River.

Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and Serbia have suspended shipping on the river, which is 90 percent impaired by the ice. The Bulgarian Agency for Exploration and Maintenance of the Danube River announced that the river is completely frozen near the Bulgarian city of Silistra, and authorities temporarily halted two Bulgarian-Romanian ferries. Hungarian officials reported Feb. 10 that the river was 60 to 70 percent frozen there and have closed it to traffic. Shipping also was stopped in certain sections of the river in Austria, making transnational shipping impossible.

Europe has around 50,000 kilometers (31,000 miles) of navigable canals, rivers and lakes regularly used for transportation of goods. This network is mostly concentrated in the northwestern part of the continent, with one major exception -- the Danube.

The Danube flows for 2,872 kilometers through Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova and Ukraine to the Black Sea. On its way, it flows through four capital cities -- Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest and Belgrade -- and its tributary rivers fostered the development of important trade centers such as Munich and Zagreb. The completion of the 171-kilometer-long Rhine-Main-Danube Canal in 1992 allowed for travel to the Danube from the North Sea port of Rotterdam via the Rhine.

Contrast this with the rest of Europe, which largely has shifted its goods trade to faster -- albeit more expensive -- routes. Only about 5 percent of Europe's total inland freight (excluding sea, pipeline and air) is transported via its waterway network, compared to 74 percent by road and 16 percent by rail. This diversification has given countries that are not dependent upon water-based trade more options when dealing with frozen rivers. Moreover, northwestern Europe's most important waterway, the Rhine River, currently is still navigable.