\n<\/p>\n
However, when the Rhine’s levels fell last summer, Maersk says its existing partnerships with rail providers meant they were able to “jump in with extra capacity”.<\/p>\n
Rail, says Ms Sloek-Andersen, is the preferred alternative to river as they have a similarly low CO2 footprint,, external<\/span><\/a> at around 20-30g of CO2 per tonne-km per year (gCO2e\/tkm), as opposed to trucks that emit almost 140 gCO2e\/tkm. <\/p>\n However, she adds that other companies had to switch to road freight.<\/p>\n And it wasn’t just Europe that found itself high and dry last year.<\/p>\n “You could walk across the mighty Mississippi River, external<\/span><\/a> – that’s not something we were prepared for,” says Sarah Schiffling, a supply chain expert, and assistant professor at Hanken School of Economics, Helsinki, Finland.<\/p>\n The Mississippi River is used to transport more than 500 million tonnes of freight a year,, external<\/span><\/a> but last year record low water levels, external<\/span><\/a> were estimated to have cost $20bn (\u00a316.7bn) in economic damage., external<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n “Droughts are not a new phenomenon,” says Prof Schiffling, “but [last year] we saw droughts in multiple areas across the world, all at the same time. It had a massive impact on inland shipping.”<\/p>\n In China, parts of the Yangtze River, whose surrounding provinces produce 45% of the country’s economic output,, external<\/span><\/a> were closed to ships because water levels were more than 50% below average., external<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n Meanwhile, two-thirds of Europe experienced drought conditions in 2022, as the continent saw its worst dry spell in at least 500 years., external<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n It comes as studies show that drought conditions are only expected to worsen in the years ahead., external<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n