Z5 value and clarification
Over the past week, the Z5 value in the North Sea Canal has increased. It is currently at 3512 mg/l, which means we are now in the alertness phase. The discharge Weesp (Q5) is currently 40 m3/s. The water intake system (WIS) is currently 40. The discharge Lobith (QLobith) is about 2025 m3/s.

Expectations
The WIS is operated at maximum capacity to increase water inflow. Nevertheless, the Z5 value is expected to further increase the coming days.      

Measures 
Because the Z5 value is higher than 3500 mg/l and it is expected to rise further, we will start with optimised lock passages. This means we will cluster ships and minimise empty-running. We will accept certain delay, approximately two hours, to make the passages as efficient as possible and minimize the intrusion of salt in the North Sea Canal. This measure will go into effect at 06:00 on Friday 9 August.

In addition, from Friday 9 August we will intensify the use of the Middle Lock by allowing as many sea-going vessels as possible (max. 180 metres) through this lock. For the remaining shipping traffic, we will apply the optimised lock passage through the Norther Lock and/or Sea Lock Ijmuiden.
The CNB and the RWS-WNN will have a meeting on Monday 12 August regarding the salt intrusion and how to best monitor the situation. We will be sending the view on salinisation every week, with the next update coming on Friday 15 August. 

Contact
For operational enquiries, please contact our Manager Operations Services on 020-523 4692. For commercial enquiries, you can reach out to your commercial manager at Port of Amsterdam.