Rhine ports potentially affected as acid barge capsizes

Shipping on the Rhine was suspended today as authorities rushed to prevent an environmental disaster after a barge carrying 2,400 tonnes of sulphuric acid capsized. The 360-foot tanker Waldhof, bound for the Belgian port of Antwerp, rolled over near the town of St. Goarshausen. The barge was carrying sulfuric acid for BASF SE, the world’s biggest chemical company. River authorities, concerned that the vessel’s cargo of highly corrosive liquid might spill into the river, immediately closed the river to traffic.