Fuel supply shortage in Bonn and the region Delivery issues becoming more acute
BONN · The low Rhine level continues to pose problems for gas stations, as container ships are not allowed to carry full loads. Some gas stations in Bonn and the region have already had to turn away customers. The situation could become even worse.
A trip to the gas station is proving to be frustrating for many drivers these days - not only because of the high fuel prices. Some petrol stations have even had to stop selling fuel, because their pumps ran dry, as Stephan Zieger, managing director of the Bundesverband Freier Tankstellen (BFT) in Bonn, said. But normally the gas station gets a new supply after a few hours or on the next day. The reason for the shortfall is mainly the low Rhine level, according to a spokesman for the industry leader Aral in Bochum.
It is not possible to predict which petrol stations will be affected
"Not enough fuel arrives to the tank storage facilities along the Rhine, because the tankers can only transport half as much or even less regular and diesel fuel than usual," he said. The transport capacity of the ships can only be partly replaced by trucks.
It was not possible to predict which petrol station it would hit, said Zieger. "It's like a thunderstorm. And you don't know where the lightning will strike.” In Germany, about three million tons of diesel are sold per month.
The situation varies throughout the region. A gas station in an industrial park in south Bornheim said it has not been affected by the shortages so far and they expected supplies as normal in the coming week. "At least we haven't heard that we won't get anything," said an employee.
But Arwed Presuhn, managing director of the ED gas station at the Swisttal-Odendorf industrial park, is more worried about the situation. He is just going from day to day, and says the situation is more precarious for smaller stations because it is the larger petrol stations which are more likely to get the fuel supplies. Fabio Mundorf, who operates a fuel supply company in Siegburg said that so far a lack of fuel had not led to any of the stations they serviced to close, but it was unclear as to how the situation might develop in the coming weeks.
Trucks and trains can’t compensate for the fuel tanker ships
He also pointed out that that the problem is not a shortage of fuel, but rather a logistical issue due to the low Rhine level. According to Mundorf, the amount the cargo ships normally transport cannot be compensated for by truck or rail traffic.
According to personnel at the Aral station in Tannenbusch, there have been short periods where their pumps have run dry in the last three or four weeks. At the moment, the pumps that deliver E5 and E10 gasoline are empty.
There was no fuel shortage at the Total petrol station in Lengsdorf on Thursday. And at the Aral station on Koblenzer Strasse, there were also no issues. Similar reports came from the Shell station on Reuter Strasse and the Jet gas station on Bornheimer Strasse.
(Orig. text: Nicole Garten-Dölle, Mario Quadt, Hannah Schmitt, with material from dpa; Translation: ck)
