Good news about our members

In this section, EFIP wants to inform you about positive developments in our ports, successful participation in EU projects and positive experiences related to EU policy in general.

Innovative Inland Navigation project to stumlate the use of small inland waterways in North-West Europe

Stimulating and improving the use of small waterways in North-West Europe. This is the aim of the new launched project Inlanav, an intiative of Waterwegen en Zeekanaal together with some other partners from the Netherlands, France and Belgium. In essence, the project will be looking at the  use of new technologies and  logistic concepts in view of creating economies of scale, maknig inland waterway transport cost-effective and performant. The project gets a 50% EU support (nearly 500.000 EUR) provided by the Interreg IVB North West Europe Programme.
Work towards these objectives will be effected through three “work packages” within INLANAV:

1. Demonstrating that coupled ships can also service new market segments, namely pallets and big bags. By coupling inland ships and equipping them with a small crane so that they can load and unload their cargo without assistance.
This doubles the freight capacity and reduces the transhipment costs.

2. The development of “next generation” Waterslag concepts with an emphasis on technological innovations, the use of new materials and new logistics concepts. To this end, a platform is provided for bringing together diverse innovative projects that focus on coupled barges.  These projects range from push barges powered by electric engines to the realization of an automatically guided barge with a larger hold, possibly constructed from composite materials.

3. The harmonisation of crewing regulations to facilitate the international operation of coupled ships. Inland waterway entrepreneurs are increasing active internationally but at present there are still differences in these regulations. The harmonising of these regulations will benefit the international goods transport with coupled ships.

4. The project is running until juin 2012. More information can be found on: www.inlanav.eu

New website must make navigation on the Elbe more accessible

As from 16 June businesses can find all the information they need when using the Elbe for the transport of their goods on the new online platform www.elbpro.com.  The information relates to the whole Elbe river from the Czech republic until Cuxhaven.

The website is the main working instrument of the recently created Elbe Promotion Center. The Saxon Ports Oberelbe are responsible for this initiative which is being cofinanced by the European Commission.

The Austrian Port of Enns plans a unique Information and Training Centre

In June 2011 Ennshafen will open the door of a unique European visitor Centre. In a new modern designed exhibition area visitors will have the possibility to explore the transport system Danube. With this project, Ennshafen aims at spreading the knowledge about inland navigation on the Danube, which is often restricted to a very small group of experts. Even if the topics „Danube as transport route“ and „Inland navigation as part of logistic chain“ are fascinating
for many people, most of the people hardly know about it.

Through three interactive topic areas – the port, inland navigation and logistics - the visitors will learn in different levels of knowledge about the characteristics of the transport on the waterway. The visitors will also have the possibility to see how the port is functioning as pivot point between nodes and see how lock management and logistic management is working in practice. The MS Franz Liszt, a former inland navigation vessel, rebuilt as exhibition vessel, already located in front of the logistic center will be showed at the exhibition area.

Besides the exhibition, the center will offer the possibilities for specialised courses for business companies, pupils and students. Guided-tours will still be an integral part of the port visit.  The existing restaurant will be extended with a shop area. The outdoor area will be made child-friendly, in such a way that the Information and Training Center Ennshafen will be an attractive destination for tourism and families.

MedlinkPorts: successful cooperation of French inland ports along the Rhône Saône axis with the Marseille-Fos Port

End 2008 the Marseille Fos port and the multimodal platforms at Pagny, Chalon, Mâcon, Villefranche, Lyon, Valence, Avignon-Le Pontet and Arles signed the “MedlinkPorts” promotional partnership agreement with the support of the French waterways organisation, Voies Navigables de France.

The partnership aims at promoting  the range of multimodal logistics areas. By offering a  structured network, the port of Marseilles has the capacity to lead flows of goods to the hinterland via massified modes of transport, being rail and inland waterways. Doing this the port of Marseilles is developing an economical, reliable, safe and eco-friendly solution for the transport of goods into the hinterland.

In addition to the big inland ports like the Lyon terminal, the network also features more modestly sized platforms. These smaller-scale platforms contribute enormously to the promotion of the network, and are rewarded with real commercial visibility.

The ultimate aim of this partnership is to ensure that goods coming through any Medlink port will benefit from the same services (information, goods storage, stuffing and emptying, customs facilities) as enjoyed at the Port of Marseilles.

Medlinkports has already proved to be successful when looking at the figures. In 2008 the container traffic going by inland waterways from and to the  Port of Marseille-Fos  to the different MedlinkPorts terminal   amounted to 38 400 TEU. In 2009 this went up 54 300 TEU or an  increase of  44%!

For more information: http://www.medlinkports.fr/

Port of Ghent receives European Greenbuilding award

Port of Ghent office building received the European GreenBuilding Awards for energy efficient non-residential buildings.
With this award the European Commission wants to encourage organisations in reducing the consumption of energy and their CO2 emissions of their buildings through a better energy efficiency and innovation.
The National Award winners of 9 EU-countries were assessed by a five-member jury according to defined quantitative and qualitative criteria. Among them, the jury has chosen the 13 most ambitious projects in the categories Best Endorser, Best Corporate Partner, Best Refurbishment Projects, and Best New Projects.
The Port of Ghent office building, which houses most of the Port of Ghent’s services, was one of the winning projects in the Category Best New Projects.

“Ecocomparateur” Port of Paris counts environmental gains IWT

The Port of Paris has developed on its website a tool allowing potential clients to measure the environmental gains of using combined transport (water- road) instead of 100% road transport when transporting goods between Rouen and Le Havre and the Seine Basin.
The instrument also looks at the cost for the company in each case and the difference in time of transport.
The calculations are made on the basis of a study made by the Agence de l'Environnement et de la Maîtrise de l'Energie
You can test it on:
http://www.paris-ports.fr/environnement/eco-comparateur

The Dutch inland ports promote a unique system of shore power

The Dutch seaports decided last year to provide on shore power for inland ships in order to limit the noise in and around seaports and to reduce emissions. As a result, on 19 November 2009, the Dutch National Port Council adopted guidelines for on shore power supply in inland navigation. In view of obtaining a uniform system in the Netherlands (namely among its 359 inland ports), the Dutch Association of Inland Ports, Nederlandse Vereniging Binnenhavens has decided to support this initiative by promoting this system towards the different local authorities and port authorities. By promoting a unique system for all, the NVB hopes to facilitate the use and to reduce costs as much as possible.

Next step is to have this system used at EU level as well. The Dutch Association is looking in that respect at EFIP. Our Dutch members have received money from the European Commission and from the Province of Zuid-Holland to stimulate the use of on shore power.
http://havens.binnenvaart.nl/

EU support for the creation of a network for the promotion of inland and fluvio-maritime navigation in Northern Italy and the Northern Adriatic Sea

In September 2009, the European Commission issued a call for proposals with the aim to promote the objectives of the common transport policy. One of the grants would go to the creation of a network of centres for promoting inland waterway navigation. The Unione Navigazione Interna Italiana, one of EFIP’s members, decided to submit together with the Agenzia della Lombardia Orientale per I Transporti e la Logistica a project, namely to create the “NINA-Net”, a “Network for the Promotion of inland and fluvio-maritime navigation in Northern Italy and Northern Adriatic sea”. In January 2010 our Italian friends received the good news that their project was accepted. This means that they will receive a grant of € 96.544 (50%) on a total budget foreseen for this project of € 193.088.

With this project the initiators want to develop and implement a coordinated promotional strategy to show the several services and infrastructures of inland waterway transport as a unique offer, to reach new markets and operators in Europe and improve the ability of communication. Potential users will be involved through the organisation of technical seminars where European best practices and benchmark case studies will be presented. Special attention will be given to the transport of dangerous goods, where the inland transport can play an important role in the future, especially in congesting areas such as the Po Valley. Finally the NINA-Net project aims at consolidating the Northern Italy IWW network and starting up effective networking with IWW key players around Europe.

More information about the project will be soon available on: www.alot.it or by contacting:
Guido Piccoli: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
phone: +39 348 2291977
fax: +39 030 290 6519

Wanda project on Waste Management for Inland Navigation on the Danube

Since July 2009 the Maritime Danube Ports Administration SA Galati is participating in the activities of the Wanda project on Waste Management for Inland Navigation on the Danube. The project aims at creating a transnationally coordinated Waste Management system that shall be applied in all Danube riparian countries. The partners in this project want to develop and implement together preventive measures to ensure an environmentally sound approach to the ship waste management system. WANDA is funded by the South East Europe Transnational Cooperation Programme (SEE) of the European Union in Priority 2 - "Protection and Improvement of the Environment" and was approved in June 2009. The 3-year project brings together nine partners from seven countries (Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia and Serbia) which are all operating in the field of navigation, infrastructure services or research. The consortium is coordinated by Via Donau - Austrian Waterway Company as Lead Partner.

For more information on this project, please contact Mr Silviu Meterna, project manager:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or surf to:
www.southeast-europe.net/en/news_and_events/project_news/wandaprojectkicksoff

Rheinlandports: three ports, three countries, three modes

In 2009 the Port of Basel (Switzerland) has developed together with the Port of Mulhouse (France) and the Port of Weil am Rhein (Germany) a trimodal logistic platform,“Rheinports”. This “3 countries, 3 ports and 3 modes” concept shows very well how inland ports are joining their forces and creating synergies at a cross border European level. By joining their forces the inland ports also want to become more attractive partners for the seaports. See also website of the Port of Basel: portof-switzerland.ch/site/

New cruise service “Nave + Bici” in Mantova

On 5th June 2009 a new cruise service “Nave +Bici” was inaugurated leaving from the Port of Mantova. The idea is to combine a boat and bike trip along the river Po from Mantova to Venice. The cruise ship “Vita Pugna” can accommodate up to 25 people. More information can be found on: www.vitapugna.it

The waterslag project

EFIP’s President, Willy Robijns, is project manager of the “Waterslag Project” (ECSWA). This project aims at making the best possible use of the capacity of small waterways in Flanders and the southern Netherlands, avoiding costly infrastructure works.

Inland vessels could transport twice as much cargo if they used pushed barges that comply with all applicable technical requirements and can pass through locks on their own. That would make goods transport by water a more attractive option and reduce its cost, which would benefit mobility, the economy and the environment. Other EU countries, such as Germany, France and Great Britain could also make use of this innovative inland shipping concept.

The Waterslag project (ECSWA) is being elaborated by the joint efforts of Incodelta (located in the southern Netherlands), the two Flemish waterway management organisations Waterwegen en Zeekanaal NV and NV De Scheepvaart, and several private-sector partners in Flanders and the Netherlands. The project coordinator is Buck Consultants International. Financial support for the project is provided by Interreg IIIB North-West Europe.

More information: www.waterslag.org/uk/welcome.html