Improving Europe’s inland waterway transportation system
As Europe looks to cut transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions two thirds by 2050, all eyes are on inland waterway transportation (IWT). “Europe’s inland waterways – its rivers, canals and lakes – have the potential to serve as a sustainable alternative to roads for transporting people and goods,” says Nils Meyer-Larsen, project manager at the Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics. However, the shift towards IWT faces several challenges, including low public awareness, a lack of transparency and coordination, infrastructure-related bottlenecks and an ageing fleet of vessels. Enter the EU-funded IW-NET project. With the goal of paving the way for more efficient, environmentally friendly and competitive inland waterway transport, the project took a holistic approach to improving Europe’s IWT system. “IW-NET provides an innovative approach to improving inland navigation in Europe,” adds Meyer-Larsen, who served as the project coordinator. “By addressing key challenges and leveraging emerging technologies, the project has the potential to significantly enhance the efficiency, competitiveness and sustainability of IWT services.”
Making IWT more flexible, resilient and responsive
Bringing together 29 companies, research institutions and public organisations from 10 European countries, IW-NET developed a portfolio of innovative technologies and concepts. “IW-NET develops cloud-deployed, flexible and low-cost solutions for improving the accuracy, reliability, resilience, responsiveness, adaptability and agility of IWT processes,” explains Meyer-Larsen. To do this, the project utilised what it calls IWT Modal Shift Enablers (MSEs), with each MSE addressing a different aspect of the IWT business model. These included: sustainable cooperation between suppliers and consumers of IWT services; data-driven collaborative optimisation of IWT operations; improved navigability under variable conditions with innovative vessel designs, and collaborative berth planning and shore power utilisation. They also looked at advanced location accuracies using Galileo positioning services and the design of an innovative IW fleet with autonomous navigation and platooning capabilities.
A promising future for inland waterway transport
Thanks to the excellent cooperation between the project’s partners, all project goals were achieved – a fact that was impressively demonstrated during the IW-NET final event in Ghent, which welcomed IWT stakeholders from all across Europe. Meyer-Larsen says he is confident that the project’s results will have a key impact on Europe’s inland navigation industry and will provide the basis for further research and innovation. “The implementation of innovative technologies and concepts, the promotion of cooperation between different stakeholders, and the creation of a comprehensive framework for efficient and sustainable inland navigation lays the foundation for a promising future for the IWT sector,” he concludes. With many of the project’s partners continuing to collaborate in such EU-funded projects as ReNEW and SEAMLESS, one can expect to see IW-NET-supported solutions hitting Europe’s inland waterways soon.
Keywords
IW-NET, inland waterways, inland waterway transportation, greenhouse gas emissions, transportation, Galileo positioning, ReNEW, SEAMLESS
