Thursday, November 12, 2026
The news that moves freight
Ocean Nov 12, 2026 · 7 min read

Maersk Rhine and Nordic inland surcharges

Tracker Rhine water levels at Kaub · 14 cm

Northern Europe’s inland legs now carry charges nobody quoted

Maersk has reinstated a EUR 625-per-container charge on cargo moving through the Andernach inland terminal on the Rhine. It covers imports and exports, and it runs from 3 November 2026. The notice went out on 9 November. So six days of moves were already done before customers saw the price.

Andernach was not alone. On the same day Maersk brought back a EUR 175 charge at Bonn, also from 3 November. It updated its low-water surcharge for Dutch inland barge terminals, again from 3 November. And it announced an emergency inland fuel surcharge for door deliveries in the Nordic and Baltic countries, starting today, 11 November, at up to 23%.

Our view is simple. For cargo moving into and out of the northern European hinterland, the inland leg is now the least predictable part of the price. Low river water and fuel supply are both pushing charges up. Carriers are passing those costs on fast, and sometimes after the fact. Forwarders who quote all-in door rates without a surcharge clause are carrying risk they cannot price.

What Maersk changed on 9 November

Start with the Rhine. The Andernach notice says “regular barge operations to and from Andernach Inland Terminal are once again affected.” Maersk calls the charge a Landside Contingency. It replaces a notice that ended the same charge on 27 October. So the reprieve lasted about a week. The charge also covers inland points served through Andernach, such as Polch and Eberhahn. It stays until regular barge operations can be restored. The separate Rhine low-water surcharge from Maersk’s earlier advisory still applies on top.

Bonn follows the same pattern at a lower figure: EUR 175 per container, from 3 November, until further notice. Maersk says cargo may be loaded or discharged at other terminals, including Emmerich near the Dutch border, with extra trucking to the final inland location. It says this adds significant transport and handling costs. That is the cost the charge is meant to recover.

In the Netherlands, the low-water surcharge (LWS) is tiered. It rises as the water at a named gauge falls. Maersk says it applies “Due to the continued decline in water levels across several Dutch inland waterways.” It also cites the temporary closure of the Twentekanaal, the canal serving the Hengelo and Almelo area. Some examples, per container, for 20, 40 and 45-foot boxes:

  • Nijmegen (Waal gauge): EUR 25/50/60 at 2.00 m or less, EUR 45/80/85 at 1.75 m or less, EUR 65/120/135 at 1.50 m or less.
  • Hengelo/Almelo (IJsselkop gauge): EUR 25/50/60 at 2.00 m or less, rising to EUR 180/195/200 at 1.50 m or less.
  • Doesburg (IJsselkop gauge): up to EUR 80/110/125 at 1.50 m or less.
  • Den Bosch (Sluis Engelen gauge): EUR 15/30/40 at 2.60 m or less.
  • Roermond and Venray-Wanssum: EUR 25/50/60 at 2.00 m or less.

Maersk’s justification is blunt. “The low water situation is an exceptional and unforeseeable situation that is beyond our control and cannot be predicted,” it says. It adds: “This surcharge is intended to partially offset these extraordinary costs.”

Then the Nordic notice. From 11 November, Maersk applies an Emergency Inland Fuel/Energy Surcharge to store-door shipments, meaning trucking to or from the customer’s premises. The rates, by country, are: Estonia 23%, Denmark 14%, Latvia 13%, Sweden 10%, Finland 6%, Norway 4% and Lithuania 4%. Maersk links it to “the blockage of fuel supply in the Middle East.” Electric trucks and rail are not affected for now. The rates will be updated weekly if they change. In Maersk’s words: “Please note that the information is subject to change due to the highly volatile situation.”

How low the Rhine is

The surcharges follow the river, and the river has been at historic lows for months.

Kaub, on the Middle Rhine, is the river’s key chokepoint and the gauge the market watches. On 24 September, Bloomberg, via SWI swissinfo.ch, reported that the Kaub level fell to 4 cm. That was the lowest in records going back to 1880. The same report said the Rhine had logged 74 days below 78 cm this year. Below that level, barge operators must cut loads by 30%. During the 2022 energy crisis, the stretch was 41 days.

The old record was from 2018. Florian Krekel of the Waterways and Shipping Office in Bingen told dpa, via Logistik Heute on 30 September, that the 2018 Kaub low of 25 cm had been beaten on 5 August 2026. The gauge later dipped below zero. A gauge reading is not the actual depth of water. It is a reference mark, and the channel is deeper than the number. But a falling gauge still means barges carry less.

October brought a brief recovery. It did not last. Wetter.net reported Kaub at 44 cm on 30 October and 21 cm on 2 November. On the same day, Cologne, close to Bonn, read 76 cm against a mean low water of 114 cm. The level that counts for shipping at Cologne is 139 cm, Wetter.net said. Below it, ships can only sail partly loaded, and transport costs more.

On 5 November, Bloomberg reported that the German waterways authority, the WSV, forecast Kaub clearance falling to as little as 5 cm by 9 November. The five-year average for that day is over 150 cm. Sebastiaan Kosman, head of barge data provider Spotbarge, said: “Kaub remains difficult, with standard barges no longer able to pass that point.” Only low-water barges can get through, he added.

The same report said this year’s disruption has already lasted longer than the 2022 dry spell. Rail diversions have been harder because of maintenance on part of the network near the river. The cost of moving diesel from Rotterdam to Basel by barge is near a record in data going back to 2018. Switzerland has released more jet fuel from its reserves, partly blaming the low Rhine. Ineos has cut petrochemicals output at its Cologne site this year because of low water, and Shell and power generator Steag have also had output affected. When refineries and chemical plants on the river feel it, container barges sharing the same channel do too.

What this means for forwarders

Three practical points.

First, check your invoices. Every Maersk move through Andernach, Bonn or the listed Dutch terminals since 3 November may carry a charge that was not in your quote. On a 40-foot import to Andernach, the contingency charge alone is EUR 625, before the Rhine low-water surcharge. That is real money on a single box. Decide now whether you absorb it, pass it through, or argue it. Read your customer contracts before the invoices land.

Second, change how you quote. A fixed door rate into the Rhine-Ruhr, the Dutch east or Scandinavia is now a bet on water levels and diesel. Add a clause that makes carrier inland surcharges payable at the rate in force on the move date. Quote validity of a week, not a month, is sensible while the Nordic percentages are reviewed weekly.

Third, look at routing. Andernach at EUR 625 and Bonn at EUR 175 tell you where the pain is worst. Maersk itself is shifting Bonn cargo through Emmerich with trucking. Shippers with flexibility may get a better total cost by trucking from a lower Rhine or Dutch terminal, or by rail, than by paying the contingency. In the Nordics, Maersk exempts electric trucks and rail for now. For Estonia, at 23%, that could be a large saving. Ask the carrier to quote the rail or EV option side by side.

The wider pattern matters too. Low water and fuel supply are now both live triggers for inland surcharges in northern Europe. Neither is quoted in advance. Neither has a clear end date. Both are announced as “until further notice.”

What we expect next

Our view is that the Rhine charges will outlast the next rain. A brief October recovery let Maersk end the Andernach charge on 27 October. It was back from 3 November. It will take sustained rain to lift Kaub and Cologne back above their low-water marks and keep them there. The forecast reported by Wetter.net on 2 November showed no signal of heavy widespread rain, and expected levels to keep falling slowly.

Our prediction: the Andernach EUR 625 and Bonn EUR 175 contingency charges will still be in force on 15 December 2026. We also expect the Nordic emergency fuel surcharge to still apply in all seven countries at the end of November, with at least one country’s percentage changed in Maersk’s weekly reviews by then.

Sources

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