Rhine River Commerce
Europe's busiest inland waterway, freed by an 1868 treaty and still the backbone of its barge trade.
Overview
The Mannheim Act of 1868 internationalized navigation and abolished tolls, opening the river to industrial traffic just as the Ruhr's coal and steel works lined its banks. Duisburg grew into the world's largest inland port, Basel remains the head of navigation where Swiss freight transfers, and pushed convoys move grain, ore, fuel and containers in volumes no single mode can match. Recent drought summers, notably 2018 and 2022, dropped water levels enough to slash loads and expose the corridor's vulnerability. The Rhine set the legal and operational template for Europe's core waterway network.
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