Inland waterways provide an efficient mode of transport in Europe, with over 40,000 km of navigable rivers and canals. Inland ships emit far less carbon dioxide and use less fuel per tonne-km than trucks. Waterborne transport plays an important economic role, creating over 40,000 jobs and carrying around 500,000 tonnes of goods annually in the EU. Investments are being made to further develop waterway infrastructure and integrate inland shipping into multimodal transport networks to realize its potential for reducing emissions and congestion.

1. FACTS & FIGURES
INLAND NAVIGATION IN EUROPE

2. WATERWAYS IN EUROPE
EU Waterways
 40,000 km
 ½ accessible to ≥ 1,000 tonne
vessels
 18 out of 27 EU Member States
have navigable waterways
EU Roads
 4,800,000 km
EU Railways
 200,000 km
Waterways elsewhere
 USA 42,000 km
 Russia 85,000 km
 China 121,000 km

3. SAVING ENERGY & CARBON
Saving energy & carbon 0.25 MJ/TONNE-KM
30 CO2 PER TONNE-KM
 CO2 emissions and fuel consumption by
inland ships are just one third of those for
road bound trucks.
0.8 MJ/TONNE-KM
150 CO2 PER TONNE-KM

4. HISTORIC ADVANTAGE
Plenty of waterborne trade opportunities
 Most people in EU live near coast or in main
river valleys.

5. NO TRAFFIC JAMS
Slower but reliable
Rotterdam  Duisburg 24 hours
Paris  Le Havre 40 hours
Basel  Antwerp 48 hours
Lyon  Marseille 24 hours

6. RIVER INFORMATION
SERVICES
Oldest means of transport using newest
technology
 Modern traffic management systems
 Swift electronic data transfer between
water and shore
 In-advance and real-time exchange of
information

7. A VESSEL FOR EVERY LOAD
From containers to liquids to bulk goods, there is
a ship to carry it
 An average ship can take 200 truck loads
 The inland shipping fleet in EU counts
around 12,850 vessels

8. DIRECT JOBS
A growing jobs market
 Inland shipping creates 40,000 jobs onboard
“and more to come”
 Job opportunities on board and ashore
40,000 JOBS

9. WATERWAY GEOGRAPHY
Strong in navigable regions
 Low transport share in EU27
 BUT, up to 40% in hinterland of major
seaports

10. TRANSPORTED GOODS
All types of cargo
 Ca. 500,000 tonnes per year
 After bulk consumer goods go increasingly
by water
 Container market will double by 2020

11. PROMINENT USERS

12. SEAMLESS EUROPEAN
WATERWAY NETWORK
Realising the waterways’ potential
with the EU Naiades Action Plan
 Streamlining waterway transport
 Removing barriers

13. TRAFFIC DENSITY 2007

14. FORECAST 2025

15. NATURALLY MULTIMODAL

16. CONNECTING EUROPE
Congestion-free links between Europe’s
ports and industrial centres
Major economic centres will be
conncected by three new links:
Antwerp-Paris
(completion 2018)
Rhine-Mediterranean
(completion 2025)
Adriatic-Milan
(completion 2020)

17. external and infrastructure costs in €/1,000tkm
ON INVESTMENT
GOOD RETURN
Source: CE Delft

18. 2020 SUPPLY CHAIN
Future supply chain
 Long haul shipping is done via inland
waterways and rail with clean vehicles doing
the last mile
 New logistics solutions share information,
transport and warehousing to cut costs and SHARED INFORMATION
emissions
SEAPORT
FACTORY
SEAPORT
FREIGHT TRAIN
CITY PORT
FREIGHT TRAM
WATER
TRUCK
SHOP

19. 2020 INLAND SHIPPING
RIS or River Information Services: an
Rivers: Arteries for development intelligent transport system that
connects ship to shore
1. Information technology
2. Fleet diversity WAREHOUSE
WATER
AUTHORITY
3. Versatile and innovative
4. Clean fuel
5. Good working conditions
6. Vessel design
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5 6
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3 6
2

20. TOWARDS A 2020 LANDSCAPE
Rivers: Arteries for development
1. Transport and logistics
2. Wildlife and biodiversity
3. Energy production
4. Water supply and management
5. Leisure and tourism 1 2
5
3
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4 4
2
5
3
1
5