300 Dutch ships in Rhine jam

Some 300 Dutch barges are now backed up in the Rhine near Koblenz because of difficulties in raising a sunken ship, the Financieele Dagblad reports.

Northbound shipping has been halted, meaning tankers heading back to the Netherlands cannot get through.

‘I think this will put many inland shippers on the verge of bankruptcy,’Erik van Toor of the Dutch Belgian inland shipping organisation told the paper.

The tanker, carrying a cargo of sulphuric acid, sank two weeks ago. Cranes began working on salvaging the tanker at the weekend but the work is tricky because of the risk of spillages.(Source: DutchNews)

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