A hot, dry July made worse by climate change has raised the risk that the German economy could run aground as sinking Rhine waters make shipping along the river harder. The prospect of severe, longer-term limits to traffic spells a new headache for the industries lined up on the river's banks and threatens to further strain Germany's efforts to wean itself off Russian energy imports as coal counts among key cargo moved on the waterway. "With the low water level at the moment, we have to use three or four ships when normally we would only need one," says Deutsche Transport-Genossenschaft Binnenschifffahrt chief Roberto Spranzi, with knock-on effects for already under-pressure supply chains. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES