AIS has long been one of the modern standards in commercial shipping. The automatic identification system provides all important information about a vessel that is equipped accordingly. The most important is the position. This also applies to inland waterways - and especially to busy main traffic routes such as the Rhine.
The mountain section: a special stretch of river
The existing obligation to be equipped with the appropriate technology therefore comes as no surprise. In combination with the already prescribed duty of care in ship handling and other aids such as radar and radiotelephony, a high level of safety can be achieved. Nevertheless, there are sections of the route that require additional monitoring. These are almost always harbours.
The only "natural" exception on the Rhine is the so-called mountain section, just under seven kilometres long, between Oberwesel and St. Goar."
At this point, the river crosses the Rhenish Slate Mountains. Nowhere above or below are its bends narrower, the distance between the banks smaller and the slopes steeper than here. This not only affects visibility ahead, but also the radar on the bridge and radio communication between the ships. There are also other obstacles such as rocky reefs and a middle ground (the Geisenrücken at river kilometre 552.40).
And then there's the current: it can be up to 6 kilometres per hour, depending on the water level. All this leaves little time to react and even less room to manoeuvre, especially given the dimensions of the cargo ships: a coupled convoy consisting of a motor cargo ship and a pushed barge can easily reach a length of 180 metres. Plenty of reasons not to rely solely on individual measures on board when it comes to safety.
Everything in view: The Oberwesel control centre
Instead, this bottleneck between kilometres 548.50 and 555.43 is additionally monitored - by the Wesel control centre. They keep an eye on all traffic around the clock on radar screens. Their task: to avoid critical encounters at the already critical points. This is the purpose of the traffic light monitoring system (see map on the right). Five signalling stations, whose displays are controlled by the control centre, provide the skippers with the most important information about the navigability of the waterway.
The square fields, each with three light strips arranged in a triangle, are particularly striking."
These signals show the uphill train, which can stop and wait more easily, the number and type of vehicles that are travelling downhill on one of the seven sections of track. Under certain circumstances, vehicles are prohibited from meeting, for example at Bankeck or Betteck. A sophisticated system that does not apply to small vehicles. However, it can't hurt if sports skippers know what to expect at all times.
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Christian Tiedt
Editor Travel
