In August, we posted about an extreme drought in Europe that dramatically reduced water levels in major rivers, including the Rhine, Elbe, Loire, Danube, and Po. Now a near-record drought in the US Midwest has dropped water levels in the Mississippi and tributary rivers causing barges to run aground, disrupting river travel for shippers, recreational boaters, and even passengers on a cruise line.
The Coast Guard has imposed new loading restrictions on ships and barges on the rivers. The price of shipping goods along the river skyrocketed. The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) began emergency dredging to deepen the river at more than a dozen key choke points, where a backup of about 2,000 barges has built up.
Viking Mississippi, the newest ship in Viking’s river cruises fleet, has had to cancel mid-way through her current voyage due to low water levels. It is unknown whether the ship’s next sailing will also be affected, as the ship is currently unable to reach the scheduled departure point in St. Paul, Minnesota.
The AP reports that a shipwreck has emerged along the banks of the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, as water levels plummet.
The ship, which archaeologists believe to be a ferry that sunk in the late 1800s to early 1900s, was spotted by a Baton Rouge resident walking along the shore earlier this month. The discovery is the latest to surface from ebbing waters caused by drought. During the summer, receding waters in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area revealed several skeletal remains, countless desiccated fish, a graveyard of forgotten boats, and even a sunken World War II-era craft that once surveyed the lake.