Posted: August 14th, 2022

Advancing Intermodalism through Inland Waterway and Shortsea Shipping Initiatives

Advancing Intermodalism through Inland Waterway and Shortsea Shipping Initiatives

Intermodalism is the concept of integrating different modes of transportation to provide efficient and sustainable mobility of passengers and freight. Intermodalism can reduce congestion, environmental impacts, costs and accidents, as well as enhance accessibility, reliability and competitiveness. One of the key challenges of intermodalism is to ensure seamless transfers between modes, especially at terminals where different load units are handled.

Inland waterway and shortsea shipping are two modes of transportation that have great potential for intermodalism, especially in Europe where they can complement or substitute road and rail transport. Inland waterway transport (IWT) refers to the movement of goods and passengers on rivers, canals, lakes and other inland waterways. Shortsea shipping (SSS) refers to the movement of goods and passengers by sea along the coast or between ports within a continent or a region. Both modes offer advantages such as low energy consumption, high safety, large capacity, low external costs and low infrastructure requirements.

However, inland waterway and shortsea shipping also face several challenges that limit their intermodal integration, such as low service frequency, long transit times, high terminal costs, low visibility, regulatory barriers, lack of innovation and coordination. Therefore, various initiatives have been undertaken at the national and European levels to promote and support the development of intermodal solutions involving IWT and SSS. Some examples are:

– The European Commission’s NAIADES action programme (2006-2013) and NAIADES II (2014-2020), which aimed to foster the integration of IWT into the European transport system by improving its infrastructure, market conditions, environmental performance, innovation and human capital.
– The European Commission’s Marco Polo programme (2003-2013) and Connecting Europe Facility (2014-2020), which provided financial support for projects that shifted freight from road to more sustainable modes such as IWT and SSS.
– The European Commission’s Motorways of the Sea (MoS) concept, which designated four priority corridors for SSS in Europe: Baltic Sea, Western Europe, Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean. The MoS aimed to improve the accessibility, interoperability, safety and environmental performance of SSS through infrastructure development, innovation and cooperation.
– The European Commission’s TEN-T network, which identified nine core network corridors for multimodal transport in Europe, including several inland waterways and shortsea routes. The TEN-T network aimed to enhance the connectivity, cohesion and competitiveness of the European transport system by 2030.
– The European Commission’s Green Deal strategy (2019), which set the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transport by 90% by 2050. The strategy highlighted the role of IWT and SSS in achieving this goal by shifting more freight from road to waterborne transport.
– The European Commission’s Digital Transport and Logistics Forum (DTLF), which was established in 2015 to facilitate the exchange of information and best practices on digital solutions for transport and logistics. The DTLF included several working groups on topics such as electronic transport documents, data sharing platforms, e-CMR protocol and eFTI regulation.
– The European Federation of Inland Ports (EFIP), which represented more than 200 inland ports in 18 countries. The EFIP advocated for the recognition of inland ports as key nodes for intermodal transport and logistics in Europe.
– The European Shortsea Network (ESN), which was a network of national shortsea promotion centres in 20 countries. The ESN promoted the benefits of SSS for shippers, logistics providers and policy makers through information dissemination, awareness raising and matchmaking activities.

These initiatives have contributed to advancing intermodalism through inland waterway and shortsea shipping in Europe by addressing some of the barriers and challenges that these modes faced. However, there is still room for improvement and further development of intermodal solutions involving IWT and SSS. Some possible directions for future research and action are:

– To assess the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on IWT and SSS markets and operations, as well as their resilience and recovery strategies.
– To evaluate the effects of Brexit on IWT and SSS flows and networks between the UK and the EU, as well as the implications for customs procedures, regulations and standards.
– To analyse the opportunities and challenges of new technologies such as automation, digitalisation, electrification and hydrogen for IWT and SSS modes, as well as their integration with other modes.
– To explore the potential of new business models such as synchromodality, horizontal collaboration and circular economy for IWT and SSS modes, as well as their alignment with customer needs and expectations.
– To identify the best practices and success factors for intermodal terminal design, management and operation for IWT and SSS modes, as well as their integration with urban areas.
– To develop new indicators and methods for measuring and comparing the performance, efficiency and sustainability of IWT and SSS modes, as well as their intermodal integration.
– To enhance the cooperation and coordination among stakeholders from different modes, sectors and countries involved in IWT and SSS modes, as well as their intermodal integration.

References:

– Chapter 8: Inland Waterway, Short-Sea, and Coastal Shipping. In: Lowe D. Intermodal Freight Transport. Routledge; 2005. Available from: https://www.globalspec.com/reference/29992/203279/chapter-8-inland-waterway-short-sea-and-coastal-shipping
– Rodrigue JP, Slack B. Intermodal Transportation and Containerization. In: The Geography of Transport Systems. Routledge; 2020. Available from: https://transportgeography.org/contents/chapter5/intermodal-transportation-containerization/
– Kijewska K, Gajewska T, Pawłowska B. I need help writing a dissertation Integrating Short Sea Shipping with Trans-European Transport Network Corridors. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering. 2022;10(2):218. Available from: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/10/2/218
– Rodrigue JP, Slack B. Intermodalism, Multimodalism and Transmodalism. In: The Geography of Transport Systems. Routledge; 2020. Available from: https://transportgeography.org/contents/chapter5/intermodal-transportation-containerization/intermodalism-multimodalism-transmodalism/

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