Excellent safety standards make inland shipping ideal for the transport of hazardous substances, often in liquid form. Biofuel is the new growth market while edible oils, wine, milk, and syrups are already commonly carried by barge.

Campina, is using inland shipping for milk transport between the Veghel and 's-Hertogenbosch production locations in the Netherlands, which is unique in Europe. The choice for this environmental-friendly transport mode is part of Campina's active work on standardising environmental practices in its different production entities and business processes.

Warcoing Industrie, the agri-food company, located along the Scheldt in the south of Belgium, created a dedicated shipping service, operating seven days a week, to ship fructose syrup, a sugary ingredient based on chicory, and used in the manufacturing process of numerous agro-alimentary products. The manufacturing process of this syrup requires it to be transported from the Warcoing plant to Valenciennes at a high temperature and within 36 hours after its transformation process when the cargo is returned to Warcoing by using the same vessel, to be packaged before being distributed to the end-users. This "just-in-time" concept proved to be the ideal concept for this particular shipment.

Biofuel plants are being set up all over Europe, as the EU has decided that by the end of 2010, 5.75% of petrol and diesel consumption should derive from bioproducts. In Belgium, the Bioro plant in Ghent will mainly use inland navigation for the supply and delivery of raw materials needed for the production of biodiesel from rapeseed.  In Austria several manufacturing plants are being set up for producing biodiesel and bioethanol, leading to a substantial increase of transport volumes on the Danube. France, at the forefrunt of biofuel producers, plans to increase its production rate. Plants are concentrated in the North and Northwest, and waterways transport is used to transport raw material and delivery end-products. In the UK, the movement of liquid biomass fuel in barges to two power stations in Yorkshire has started. Opportunities to move solid biomass fuel by barge are investigated.