RiverLoad
A logistics dashboard for inland shipping operators, ports, and cargo owners that tracks draft-restricted river corridors in real time and recommends load-out or routing changes weeks in advance.
inland shipping operators and freight forwarders on the Danube, Rhine, and other low-flow rivers
- Live and forecast draft limits per river segment
- Per-vessel load optimization given your hull and current cargo order book
- Corridor-level alerts when a section drops below your operational draft
- Bunker and rail-handoff suggestions when a segment is unsailable
Source page describes multiple stranded vessels and a halted industry on the Danube; cargo owners are scrambling for alternatives and will pay for foresight.
Multiple sources confirm record-low Danube and Rhine levels in 2024-2026, with commercial vessels struggling and cruise sailings cancelled — real and recurring disruption, not a one-off.Low water levels impact Danube navigation in Romania ↗Low water levels disrupt Danube and Rhine river cruise shipping ↗
Market is already occupied: CoVadem Smart Dashboard covers Rhine with real-time depth/clearance in ECDIS, PegelTiefgang offers a draft calculator, rhine-freight-radar is an open-source predictive dashboard, and SpotVessels/Adaption IT serve adjacent inland-shipping SaaS needs.Smart Dashboard — CoVadem Services BV ↗PegelTiefgang - Inland shipping draft calculator ↗GitHub - moberick/rhine-freight-radar ↗SpotVessels ↗
CoVadem already proves WTP at €1200/yr per ship + €300 setup, and Stranded-cargo/lost-margin economics dwarf that price; B2B inland fleet on Rhine alone is several thousand vessels.Smart Dashboard — CoVadem Services BV ↗CoVadem Reviews and Pricing 2026 | F6S ↗
Peer-reviewed climate science and EU assessments project more frequent and severe low-flow events on European rivers, with regulatory bodies (CCNR, EEA, Interreg) actively funding adaptation — a multi-decade tailwind.Cascading effects of sustained low water on inland shipping ↗1.4 Water and climate impacts - European Environment Agency ↗
Data sources exist (CCNR gauges, Copernicus satellites, ECDIS) and CoVadem already built a working version on the Rhine; the harder part is the 'weeks-ahead' predictive layer (hydro models degrade quickly) and multi-corridor integration.Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine ↗Smart Dashboard — CoVadem Services BV ↗