Inland waterway transport is the oldest existing method of transporting goods and people. Nowadays, ships can rely on the newest technology, offering the high-performance information and communications technology that is a prerequisite for effective logistics chain management. |
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Inland
waterway transport is extremely effective for bulk cargo, but we also transport
all other kinds of goods, including containers, pallets, building materials,
running shoes and beer and wine. |
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Intermodal solutions and consolidation of goods mean you don’t have to be settled alongside a river to use barges – trains, trucks and barges offer an intermodal solution. |
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Inland
waterway transport is extremely reliable. You can organise your production
around your deliveries, knowing that supplies will arrive on time, as barges do
not risk being stuck in traffic jams. |
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One
single ship carries the same amount of goods as 120 trucks – using inland
waterways takes trucks off the road and reduces congestion, encouraging the
free flow of vehicles on our roads. |
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There are
20 000 barges available throughout Europe. The many different sized vessels
within the European inland fleet means that a large amount of flexibility can
be offered. Small ships can operate as water trucks, transporting goods along
short distances, while bigger ships can take more cargo further, using less
fuel, than other transport modes. |
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Europe
has 38 000 kilometres of navigable waterways. Putting more goods on water does
not require taking land away from other uses. Inland waterways still offer a
large amount of available capacity. For instance, currently only approximately
15% of the Danube’s total capacity is being utilized for inland navigation. As
other modes of transport increasingly suffer from congestion, capacity problems
and delays which affect mobility and economic competitiveness, inland waterway
transport is an obvious choice to play a more prominent role in logistics
chains. |
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Inland
shipping has the lowest external costs of all modalities. Barges emit fewer
greenhouse gases, make less noise and have fewer accidents. Air pollution from
inland waterway transport could fall by as much as 85% once clean fuel is
available from 2011. |
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Rivers and canals do much more than transport goods and people. They are catalysts for regional and environmental development, they are actors in water supply and flood defence and they foster leisure and tourism. The water transport sector puts a lot of effort into a safe combination of all of these functions, to create optimized profits for society. | ![]() |