Logistics providers, ports, terminals and cargo owners must treat recurring drought and low-water restrictions as a business continuity risk, rather than an occasional environmental disruption, warns transport and logistics insurer TT Club.

Inland waterways have long been established as efficient, environmentally favourable means of moving cargo, with ships and barges on major corridors such as the Rhine, Danube, Mississippi, Yangtze and Paraná able to carry substantial volumes at lower cost and emissions than road transport. TT Club said recurrent drought conditions are increasing operational pressure through vessel loading restrictions, reduced draughts, navigation bottlenecks, delays, grounding incidents and rising freight costs.

It warns that the consequences extend well beyond individual vessels. Reduced carrying capacity can disrupt port throughput, create inventory imbalances at warehouses and generate sudden demand for alternative rail and road capacity. The resulting disruption can cascade through interconnected supply chains.

Neil Dalus, risk assessment manager at TT Club, said: “Inland waterways remain an essential component of efficient, lower-emission freight transport. However, the assumption that these corridors will always provide a dependable alternative to road and rail must now be challenged.

“Drought should no longer be considered a rare environmental issue. It is a business continuity risk with the potential to affect vessel capacity, route availability, port operations and the wider transport network. The question for operators is not whether low-water conditions will occur, but whether they have the visibility, flexibility and contingency arrangements required to manage them.”

TT Club recommends that operators consider priority measures including mapping their dependencies on inland waterways and identifying vulnerable transport corridors, monitoring river levels and incorporating drought forecasts into cargo and fleet planning, and establishing alternative road, rail and storage arrangements before restrictions arise.

Dalus added: “The most resilient organisations will be those that understand their dependencies, can activate alternative transport options quickly and have already considered how their supply chains will perform under persistently constrained conditions.”

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