A new website for the promotion of freight transport on the Elbe has been launched. The site, so far only available in German, offers information about the Elbe and its ports, harbours and terminals, as well as offering personalised advice to those companies wishing to explore using the Elbe as part of their freight transport chains. It offers a series of good arguments for choosing to use inland waterways, both from an environmental and a business point of view.
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Inland Navigation Europe (INE), the European Barge Union (EBU) and the European Skippers Organisation (ESO) have issued a joint statement in which they make it clear that the old ways of doing things will not continue to work. In order to maintain Europe’s competitiveness, new ways have to be explored. Europe’s inland waterways provide a ready built mechanism for low carbon and low energy freight transport that links Europe’s main economic centres. Revitalising existing waterways will provide a cost-efficient solution. At the recent transport forum in Leipzig, Commissioner Siim Kallas outlined a vision of a European transport system that is highly integrated, efficient, cross-modal, resilient and low-carbon. This vision can be easily achieved by fast-tracking an emphasis on increased use of inland waterway transport for European freight transport through effective integration with other ways of transport.
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Notwithstanding the economic crisis in 2009, inland navigation managed to increase its share of the container transport market. The share of the “Rotterdam modal split” increased from 30 percent to 33 percent. The last time there was such a big increase in one year was in the last century. Rail fell from 13 percent to 11 percent, returning to the position they held in 2006. Road also dropped from 57 percent to 56 percent. The explanation from the port of Rotterdam is that rail was, or could not be, quick enough to adapt to the declining volumes caused by the crisis while inland waterway transport was able to be more flexible in its pricing – adapting to the surplus transport capacity. Inland waterways also benefitted from the elimination of restrictions in the handling capacity at the sea terminals. There have also been encouraging signs from other countries that indicate that inland waterway transport is picking up.
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The European Commission has agreed to a regional grant of EUR 300,000 for the Port of Brussels. The grant to the Brussels region is to encourage the transport of containers by water in order to relieve traffic pressure. The aim is to double the number of container shipped by barge to 25,000 (the threshold for water transport to be competitive against road) by 2012. The Port of Brussels will receive the money for three years and will be able to increase the grant it offers for container shipping by water by 50 percent to EUR 17.50 per container. Brussels Minister for the harbour, Brigitte Grouwels, reacted with satisfaction to the adoption by the European Commission. "If we want the traffic pressure reduced  in Brussels, we must remain fully committed to modal shift from road transport in favour of water," said Minister Grouwels.
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Barge operator Frankenbach Container Terminals is developing a new trimodal container terminal in the German city of Mainz. The Terminal will cover 13 acres and have a capacity of around one quarter million TEU per year. The EUR 30 million new terminal will be the new headquarters for Frankenbach. The first phase, a development of eight acres, will be ready early next year and will accommodate transhipment of up to 260 00 TEU’s per year. The quay will have a length of 600 meters, in order to accommodate up to four ships at a time.
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Electric Ship Facilities in Heeg (The Netherlands) has developed a hybrid propulsion system for interior and coastal navigating. The company is finalizing a pilot system that is built in a renovated former fireboat. The generator of the hybrid system is a 30-kW micro turbine generator built by Turbine Capstone Corporation of Chatsworth, California. The ship can operate entirely using batteries. If necessary, the engine can be used for additional power or to recharge batteries. This is the first time that a Capstone micro turbine has been used in a ship. "A micro turbine is similar to an aircraft or even a turbo diesel engine, but slightly altered," said Dutch applications manager Sven Fransen of Capstone. The micro turbines can run on a wide range of fuels, including natural gas, LPG, gas oil and kerosene. However, for gas and liquid fuel a different injection system is required. 
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Switching to natural gas (LNG) is generally regarded as the main channel to make navigation significantly cleaner in the short term. This was the outcome of seminars held in May, with the participation of Rolls Royce, Wärtsilä and Centraal Bureau Rijn- en Binnenvaart (CBRB).  All the technology needed to use LNG is already available. It requires no drastic measures on board existing ships, as the technology can be implemented in most engines relatively easily. Engines that run on LNG instead of diesel emit 99.9 percent less sulphur (SOx), 90 percent less nitrogen (NOx), 97 percent less particulates and 25 percent less carbon dioxide (CO2). LNG amply meets the strictest environmental requirements.
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Around 100 young water experts from Austria and neighbouring countries will meet from 9 to 11 June in Vienna to debate the future challenges of water management. The specialists are all under 35 years old. The aim of the conference is to develop common strategies for current challenges in water management. The programme was initiated by the International Water Association (IWA). The IWA wants to call attention to the future challenges in the water sector, such as the impact of climate change on the hydrological cycle and water management, the increasing number of people in urban areas and the conflict between hydropower and ecology.
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The Zonnebloem is a luxury Inland Cruise Vessel for chronically ill and disabled passengers. The vessel has been christened by Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands. The vessel is owned by a foundation "De Zonnebloem" who financed the vessel mainly by charity. The foundation provides chronically ill people and people in elderly homes the possibility to enjoy a cruising holiday with all necessary facilities on board. De Zonnebloem can sail throughout the European inland waterways but will mainly travel the Dutch inland waterways including the estuary in the south of Holland, the IJsselmeer and the Waddenzee.
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The European Intermodal Association (EIA) has established the first ‘EU Compendium for Freight Transport & Logistics Best Practices’. The Compendium includes market cases from the transport and manufacturing industry side. It describes running services and sustainable initiatives, covering background, motivation, main benefits, innovations and partners involved. These cases have been collected through various ongoing EU initiatives and EIA have integrated them in a new central structure and neutral design under one umbrella. Currently, there are 60 cases available, covering a range of industries.
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This year’s Conference of the European Union's funding programme Marco Polo will take place on the 5th and 6th of October 2010 in Vienna. The European Commission will cooperate with a local organizational committee consisting of the Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology, the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, the Port of Vienna and via donau. The first Conference day will be held in the facilities of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber located on the Wiedner Hauptstrasse. Bilateral meetings for funding applicants, a technical visit of the Port of Vienna and the National Park Donau-Auen located East of Vienna are scheduled for the second day of the Conference.
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The project for the implementation of NAIADES held its annual report back session in Rotterdam on 16th and 17th June. The Steering committee meeting, the third in the project’s lifetime, was attended by high-level delegates from the 22 partners and 9 European countries that make up the PLATINA consortium. The PLATINA consortium reported back on their achievements over the last two years, and their plans for the future.The meeting was addressed by Mr Dimitrios Theologitis, the head of unit “Maritime Transport Policy, Ports & Inland Waterways“(DG MOVE), who thanked the PLATINA consortium for their efforts and assured the meeting of the support of the Commission for inland waterway transport, which, he said, plays a key role in the growing of Europe’s internal market.
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For the first time, PLATINA, the EU project for the implementation of NAIADES, will host Europe’s premier inland waterway event, Barge to Business, on the 30th of November and the 1st of December in Brussels. This exciting two day conference will facilitate the integration of specialised services, new technologies, innovative solutions and learning by example into European supply chain management. Barge to Business will consist of two pillars – a business to business pillar called riverdating which offers an opportunity for the inland navigation community and logistics service providers to showcase their network to logistics and supply chain managers wishing to add inland navigation to their transport options. The second pillar is an information market affording inland navigation the opportunity of showcasing the many innovative and green initiatives currently taking place.
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