The European Commission authorised a Dutch subsidy supporting the development of an innovative, multi-purpose, lightweight, composite inland shipping vessel. The new type of ship, called "CompoCaNord", has a smaller draught due to its low weight, which results in higher speeds or lower fuel consumption, while it can also navigate at low water levels. The result of the research will be available to the industry in general. The Commission approved Dutch state aid for this project as the objective is fully in line with the message of the EU Naiades programme to strengthen the competitive position of inland waterway transport, in particular by enhancing its integration into multi-modal supply chains.

For the past 3 years a consortium of ELV-PTC, TNO and 10 Dutch companies specialized in innovative shipbuilding have been working together on the development of a lightweight vessel that can navigate from Paris to Poland. The "CompoCaNord" only weighs half of a standard steel hull and can transport all types of commodities from bulk, pallets, general cargo and even conditioned cargo thanks to the insulation qualities of the composite hull. The new ship has an expected lifetime of 50 years, as sustainable as the current standard steel ships in navigation. The delivery of the first ship is expected in 2008.

Last but not least, weight reduction has important environmental advantages for developing climate change strategies. Lighter ships consume less fuel, hence emit less greenhouse gases. They can also navigate at lower water levels.

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