Overview
- Authorities report up to ten icebreakers working continuously between Geesthacht and Lauenburg to reopen the waterway.
- Ship traffic on the affected stretch is suspended as ice coverage reaches as much as 70 to 100 percent in places.
- The WSA says bottom ice has risen roughly ten meters from the riverbed, forming striking meter‑high piles along the banks.
- Low discharge of about 300,000 liters per second—well below the roughly 500,000 L/s needed—limits operations to periods of higher water.
- Icebreakers including Keiler, Wisent, Büffel and Eber are engaged, crowds have gathered along the banks, and forecasters warn renewed frost could prolong the disruption.