In December 2009 the town and country planning department of the Walloon region issued a license to allow the building of a fourth lock at Lanaye. This fourth lock, which will be constructed to the east of the three existing locks, will have a working length of 225m and a width of 25m. The lock will allow the passage of vessels up to 9 000 tons. [more]

In December 2009 the town and country planning department of the Walloon region issued a license to allow the building of a fourth lock at Lanaye. This fourth lock, which will be constructed to the east of the three existing locks, will have a working length of 225m and a width of 25m. The lock will allow the passage of vessels up to 9 000 tons.

To maintain the water level of the Meuse, a station will pump water from upstream in order to compensate for the water consumption of the lock complex. In addition, a hydroelectric power station with a 2 megawatts capacity will function whenever the flow of the Meuse allows it.

The license to proceed includes the condition that 90 percent of the construction and building site materials for the new lock should be delivered removed by water, that the three existing locks should be renovated and that a catering space should be developed on the site.

The permission granted in the license will now need to be ratified by the Walloon Parliament. In parallel to this process, the Walloon waterway managers will finalize the tender documents. Construction is planned to start in autumn of 2010, with the lock becoming operational in 2014.

Source: Service public de Wallonie, Editorial: Caroline Smith

[close]

An interdisciplinary study is to elaborate a sound basis for a political decision on future development measures along the German Danube. Throughout the last years discussions on the nautical bottleneck between Straubing and Vilshofen has caused a major dispute between business representatives and environmental groups as well as between political parties on the federal and the regional level. Now that the members of an accompanying interdisciplinary monitoring group have been confirmed by the German Federal Ministry of Transport, the study, funded by the European Union, can be carried out by the project team by 2012 in order to find a mutually accepted solution. [more]

An interdisciplinary study is to elaborate a sound basis for a political decision on future development measures along the German Danube. Throughout the last years discussions on the nautical bottleneck between Straubing and Vilshofen has caused a major dispute between business representatives and environmental groups as well as between political parties on the federal and the regional level. Now that the members of an accompanying interdisciplinary monitoring group have been confirmed by the German Federal Ministry of Transport, the study, funded by the European Union, can be carried out by the project team by 2012 in order to find a mutually accepted solution.

Due to its unpredictable fairway conditions the German Danube between Straubing and Vilshofen constitutes one of the major bottlenecks for inland waterway transport on the Rhine-Main-Danube axis. Funded by the European Union, a study to be carried out by an interdisciplinary project team will aim at providing a sound basis for a mutually agreed development strategy for the German Danube.

The study will be carried out under the supervision of inland navigation and business experts on the one hand and ecologists and environmental groups on the other hand. The monitoring group will ensure the transparency and a broad acceptance of the study’s findings. Final results are expected by 2012. It will then be up to the political decision-makers to make a decision on the future development of the international waterway.

Source: www.schifffahrt-online.de, Verkehrsrundschau Online Newsletter, Editorial: Simon Hartl

[close]

On 29 January, the image work package of the PLATINA (Platform for the implementation of NAIADES) project convened an interactive one day networking seminar in Brussels for all inland navigation communicators who communicate about or on behalf of IWT. This first ever initiative was labeled a great success by the enthusiastic participants. [more]

On 29 January, the image work package of the PLATINA (Platform for the implementation of NAIADES) project convened an interactive one day networking seminar in Brussels for all inland navigation communicators who communicate about or on behalf of IWT. This first ever initiative was labeled a great success by the enthusiastic participants.

The Communicator 2 Communicator workshop offered all those who communicate about or on behalf of inland navigation, an opportunity to meet colleagues from other organisations and countries and share working experiences and challenges. The image work package of PLATINA aims at the harmonisation of European IWT communication strategies, the coordination of communication actions and the creation of promotional and development structures for IWT in Europe.

During the seminar, the findings of a reputation and image survey of inland waterway transport, carried out by the market research agency Think BBDO on behalf of the PLATINA team were presented. Following the presentation, an interactive workshop was held and then the PLATINA communication plan was presented.

The findings of the reputation and image survey will serve as a foundation for the set-up of promotional tools for the promotion and communication of European inland waterway transport.
During the interactive session, participants were taken in a journey through time, projecting their ideal picture of inland navigation in the year 2020. This “visionary” approach allowed the participants to evaluate their own perceptions and develop common strategies for an “out of the box” new image for a competitive and modern inland navigation. The seminar concluded with Hilde Bollen’s (PBV) presentation of the PLATINA communication plan including specifically targeted tasks to carry out a communication campaign on national level. PLATINA also provided a tips and tricks manual to be used as a step-by-step guide to create a communication plan for inland navigation in Europe.

The participants, who hailed from a diverse range of countries, including Austria, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, France, Croatia, Romania and Germany, were all positive about the unusual initiative which they perceived as very informative and useful. The enthusiastic feedback showed a high interest in such cross-country initiatives and a desire to meet again and discuss the extent to which they have been able to use the PLATINA toolbox as well as their experiences with this new approach.

Download

 Tips and tricks manual
   (2010 | Language: English | Format: PDF | Size: 1.0 MB)

Source: PLATINA, Editorial: Hélène Gilkarov, Caroline Smith

[close]

Samskip Multimodal Container Logistics BV and Pro-Log BV have completed their 1000th barge trip between Rotterdam and Duisburg. In 2009 the barge MS Theodela has executed a frequent schedule between the Rotterdam harbour and Port of Duisburg. The barge connection shows that it can be very efficient to utilize Europe's inland waterways for regular transport services. [more]

Samskip Multimodal Container Logistics BV and Pro-Log BV have completed their 1000th barge trip between Rotterdam and Duisburg. In 2009 the barge MS Theodela has executed a frequent schedule between the Rotterdam harbour and Port of Duisburg. The barge connection shows that it can be very efficient to utilize Europe's inland waterways for regular transport services.

For its container transports to and from Germany Samskip Multimodal Container Logistics BV uses train and barge whenever possible. The MS Theodela is a 110 meter long vessel with a loading capacity of 208 TEU. Using the barge option is not only a very cost efficient transport solution, but also a sustainable one. By using the barge, Samskip and its customers take many trucks off the road: decreasing CO2 emission output as well as road congestion.

Mr Diederick Blom, Route Director at Samskip Multimodal Container Logistics, adds:
“Most shippers have quite a steady base volume. Especially for these base volumes the barge is a very reliable and cost efficient solution. The additional fluctuating shipments can easily be executed by road. But shipping the base volume per barge (or train in other examples) takes unnecessary loads off the road as well as in some cases takes unnecessary stock out of warehouses. We know from experience that by using barges, great costs efficiencies can be gained within the customer's supply chain.”

Source: www.samskip.com, www.shortseashipping.de, Editorial: Simon Hartl

[close]

On 27 January 2010 the European Commission announced which projects will receive Marco Polo funding. The Commission received 70 proposals for actions, all of which were considered eligible and evaluated further. On the basis of this evaluation, 22 projects will receive financial assistance during the coming years. Two projects are particularly dedicated to encouraging modal shift to inland waterways. [more]

On 27 January 2010 the European Commission announced which projects will receive Marco Polo funding. The Commission received 70 proposals for actions, all of which were considered eligible and evaluated further. On the basis of this evaluation, 22 projects will receive financial assistance during the coming years. Two projects are particularly dedicated to encouraging modal shift to inland waterways.

For the 2nd call of the European Union’s programme “Improving the environmental performance of the freight transport system” (2nd Marco Polo programme) the European Commission received 70 proposals from applicants all across Europe. Out of this long list 22 projects will receive financial assistance with an overall maximum amount granted under this decision of 66.4 million euro.

Two projects have particular relevance for the development of inland waterway transport: The “Juice Vessel” project highlights a multimodal alternative to the existing European distribution of frozen orange juice between Amsterdam (Netherlands), Ghent, Antwerp (Belgium) and Mannheim (Germany) using inland waterways. The second project is Eco Danube,  a new Roll-on Roll-off (RoRo) liner service, linking the ports of Deggendorf in Germany and Enns in Austria to the ports of Giurgiu in Romania and Rousse in Bulgaria. The service transports goods ranging from agricultural machinery to heavy equipment and new cars.

On 10 February 2010 the European Commission will host the Marco Polo Information Day 2010 in Brussels. The event will provide an overview of current issues related to the Marco Polo programme, a presentation of success stories and practical guidance for future applicants.

For further information on the programme and registration http://ec.europa.eu/transport/marcopolo/events/infod_en.htm

Source: European Commission, Editorial: Simon Hartl

[close]